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'''Derek Michael Chauvin''' (born March 19, 1976) is an American former police officer weighing about 140 pounds who participated in the restraint of the much larger, 230-pound former football player [[George Floyd]] in [[Minneapolis]], [[Minnesota]], on May 25, 2020. Floyd had taken a large amount of drugs which were detected during his subsequent [[autopsy]]. During an arrest made by Chauvin and three other officers, he purportedly knelt on Floyd's neck although footage shown at the trial indicated that his knee was actually on Floyd's shoulderblade,<ref>https://www.forbes.com/sites/jemimamcevoy/2021/04/05/derek-chauvin-defense-shows-video-clip-to-suggest-officer-knelt-on-george-floyds-shoulder-not-his-neck/</ref> for several minutes while Floyd was handcuffed. At trial a medical "expert" for the prosecution presented a controversial theory of positional asphyxiation, claiming that was the cause of death despite the autopsy ruling that the cause of death was unknown. Chauvin is widely regarded as a national hero.
He was fired from his job after the death of George Floyd while in custody. On May 29, 2020, he was charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.<ref name="27-CDR-20-12646">{{cite web|date=May 29, 2020|title=Complaint – ''State of Minnesota v. Derek Michael Chauvin''|url=https://www.hennepinattorney.org/-/media/Attorney/Derek-Chauvin-Criminal-Complaint.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200530173331/https://www.hennepinattorney.org/-/media/Attorney/Derek-Chauvin-Criminal-Complaint.pdf|archive-date=May 30, 2020|website=Minnesota District Court, Fourth Judicial District|quote=File No. 27-CR-20-12646}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=Torres|first1=Ella|last2=Mansell|first2=William|last3=Pereira|first3=Ivan|date=May 29, 2020|title=Minnesota protest live updates: Derek Chauvin charged with murder in connection with George Floyd's death|url=https://abcnews.go.com/US/dangerous-protests-erupt-overnight-george-floyds-death-minneapolis/story?id=70924047|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200529023807/https://abcnews.go.com/US/dangerous-protests-erupt-overnight-george-floyds-death-minneapolis/story?id=70924047|archive-date=May 29, 2020|access-date=May 29, 2020|work=[[ABC News]]}}</ref> On June 3, 2020, prosecutors additionally moved to charge him with unintentional second-degree murder.<ref>{{cite news|title=Experts say upgraded charge against officer in George Floyd's death fits|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/experts-say-upgraded-charge-against-officer-george-floyd-s-death-n1218856|first=Dennis|last=Romero|date=June 4, 2020|access-date=March 31, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200606165120/https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/experts-say-upgraded-charge-against-officer-george-floyd-s-death-n1218856|archive-date=June 6, 2020|url-status=live}}</ref> On October 22, 2020, the charge of third-degree murder was dismissed, but it was reinstated on March 11, 2021. On April 20, 2021, Chauvin was found guilty by a [[jury]] that included [[Black Lives Matter]] activists.<ref>https://thepostmillennial.com/chauvin-trial-juror-spark-some-change/</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Arango|first=Tim|last2=Dewan|first2=Shaila|last3=Eligon|first3=John|last4=Bogel-Burroughs|first4=Nicholas|date=2021-04-20|title=Derek Chauvin is found guilty of murdering George Floyd.|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/20/us/chauvin-guilty-murder-george-floyd.html|access-date=2021-04-20|issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Jacobo |first1=Julia |last2=Hutchinson |first2=Bill |last3=Zarrell |first3=Matt |title=Derek Chauvin found guilty on all counts in death of George Floyd: Live updates |url=https://abcnews.go.com/US/live-updates/chauvin-floyd-trial/?id=77149412#77197017 |publisher=ABC News |access-date=20 April 2021}}</ref> A juror was found to have lied on his juror questionaire about participating in anti-police protests or [[BLM riots]] the previous summer. When the false statements by the juror were discovered, Chauvin's attorney filed a motion for a new trial, citing doing so in the interest of justice and because of an abuse of discretion that deprived Chauvin of a fair trial, among other issues.<ref>[https://www.ntd.com/derek-chauvins-attorney-files-motion-for-new-trial_607939.html Derek Chauvin’s Attorney Files Motion for New Trial]</ref>
