Trial of Derek Chauvin

State v. Chauvin
Court	Fourth Judicial District Court of Minnesota
Full case name	State of Minnesota v. Derek Michael Chauvin
Submitted	May 29, 2020
Decided	April 20, 2021 (2021-04-20)
Verdict	Guilty on all counts: Second-degree murder Third-degree murder Second-degree manslaughter
Prosecution	Keith Ellison (Attorney General)[1][2] Erin Eldridge[2] Jerry W. Blackwell[2] Matthew Frank (lead)[2] Steve Schleicher[2]
Defense	Eric Nelson
Citation(s)	27-CR-20-12646
Legislation cited	Minnesota Statutes §§ 609.19.2(1) (Murder in the Second Degree—Unintentional); 609.195(a) (Murder in the Third Degree); 609.205(1) (Manslaughter in the Second Degree)
Case history
Subsequent action(s)	Chauvin sentenced to 22+1⁄2 years in prison. Conviction affirmed by the Minnesota Supreme Court. Petition for a writ of certiorari rejected by the United States Supreme Court.
Related action(s)	MN v. Thao 27-CR-20-12949 MN v. Lane 27-CR-20-12951 MN v. Kueng 27-CR-20-12953
Court membership
Judge(s) sitting	Peter A. Cahill[3]

State of Minnesota v. Derek Michael Chauvin was an American criminal case in the District Court of Minnesota in 2021. Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was tried and convicted for the murder of George Floyd, which occurred during an arrest on May 25, 2020, and led to global protests over racial injustice and police brutality. A 12-member jury found Chauvin guilty of unintentional second-degree murder, third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter. It was the first conviction of a white police officer in Minnesota for the murder of a black person.

The trial was held at the Hennepin County Government Center in Minneapolis, and it ran from March 8 to April 20, 2021. It was the first criminal trial in Minnesota to be entirely televised and the first to be broadcast live. The trial received extensive media coverage, with over 23 million people watching the verdict being announced on live television. Several protest marches and demonstrations were held up to and during the trial. Large crowds celebrated the guilty verdict announcement.

Chauvin was sentenced by the trial judge to 22+1⁄2 years in prison for second-degree murder, 10 years more than the presumptive sentence under the sentencing guideline of 12+1⁄2 years. The first charge could have carried a maximum penalty of forty years in prison. Chauvin appealed his conviction, but the guilty verdict was upheld by the Minnesota Supreme Court. The United States Supreme Court declined to review the case.