From The Hill:
Minnesota Supreme Court denies Chauvin request for public defender in George Floyd murder appeal
The Minnesota Supreme Court on Wednesday denied Derek Chauvin’s request for a public defender as the former Minneapolis police officer prepares to appeal his murder conviction in the death of George Floyd.
Chief Justice Lorie Gildea signed an order that said Chauvin failed to prove that he qualifies for representation from a public defender, according to the Star Tribune.
The court determined that Chauvin did not illustrate that he was too poor to pay for a private attorney. Gildea did not, however, reveal further details regarding his assets or debts, according to the Star Tribune.
The chief justice wrote in the order, citing state law, that a defendant is considered too poor to provide their own lawyer if they, “through any combination of liquid assets and current income,” are not able to finance their own attorney.
The former police officer claimed in an affidavit that he has no earnings other than nominal prison wages he has received, according to The Associated Press. He contended that his debts are larger than his assets.
Chauvin also said he does not currently have legal representation for his appeal.
According to the Sixth Amendment:
In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence.
The right to counsel is one of the few, in only, positive rights in the Constitution.
Chauvin is in jail, he’s not a cop anymore, and he probably went bankrupt paying for his last defense.
But the Progressives on the Minnesota Supreme Court have decided to deny him a public defender because he’s an undesirable.
This is effectively denying him his Sixth Amendment guarantee to right to counsel if he can’t find an attorney to work pro bono. And we all know that any attorney who agreed to take Chauvin’s case pro bono will be harassed by the mob for being a white supremacist.
It it more clear everyday that rights are only for the politically favored. We are living in a Progressive Banana Republic.
I think they are afraid Derek Chauvin may have a good case for an appeal?
My state court system is just full of progressive hacks and wannabe dictators. I am ashamed of them.
They just handed him the best chance for an appeal he could have ever gotten.
Normally I’d agree. But in this case, where would that appeal go? It’s currently in the appeals courts.
The next step is the Minnesota Supreme Court, where this judge is the Chief Justice. What are the odds that the state’s Supreme Court hears his appeal on grounds their Chief Justice has already decided?
It makes me wonder what kind of liquid assets were presented before the court to make them conclude Chauvin has enough to pay for his own defense a second time. (Remember that a legal defense for murder often runs six- or seven-figures. George Zimmerman was pretty much bankrupt by the time he got his “Not Guilty”.)
It also makes me wonder what definition of “liquid assets” the judge is using. Most of the time, it means cash, or resources that can quickly be converted to cash (think: bank accounts, stocks, precious metals, etc.). Assets that take significant time to appraise and sell — e.g. your car, your house, your grandmother’s jewelry, your baseball card collection — are generally not considered liquid.
It wouldn’t surprise me one bit if the judge considered Chauvin’s home as a liquid asset.
That’s a win-win for a “Progressive” judge. On one hand, it discourages Chauvin from seeking an appeal, and on the other hand, whether Chauvin wins or loses, his family is homeless. Such a decision uses the legal system to punish him and his family regardless of the appeal’s outcome.
“The process is the punishment,” is a staple of “Progressives” everywhere.