Star Tribune
Derek Chauvin can test George Floyd’s heart tissue samples as he appeals his federal civil rights conviction
Derek Chauvin’s legal team will be permitted to examine heart tissue and fluid samples taken from George Floyd’s autopsy for an appeal of the former Minneapolis officer’s federal civil rights conviction based on a medical theory that Chauvin did not cause Floyd’s death.
U.S. District Judge Paul Magnuson on Monday granted a motion from Chauvin to inspect the evidence as part of a claim that a heart condition, and not Chauvin’s knee on Floyd’s neck, killed Floyd during a May 2020 police encounter that sparked widespread civil unrest.
Chauvin, who is serving state and federal prison sentences in excess of 20 years, is seeking to overturn his 2022 federal civil rights conviction over “ineffective assistance of counsel.” Chauvin is arguing that his original defense attorney, Eric Nelson, failed to inform him that a forensic pathologist based in Topeka, Kan., told Nelson he did not think Chauvin caused Floyd’s death.
Chauvin added that Nelson failed to seek testing of heart tissue samples that Dr. William Schaetzel believed would show evidence of a heart condition called Takotsubo cardiomyopathy.
A person takes photographs of a mural in memory of George Floyd with flowers and other memorial items below, on a wall of the Cup Foods store at the corner of Chicago Avenue and East 38th Street, Friday, May 29, 2020, in Minneapolis. Protests over the death of Floyd in Minneapolis police custody have spread to other areas across the United States. (Dave Schwarz/St. Cloud Times via AP) (Dave Schwarz/St. Cloud Times/The Associated Press)
“Given the significant nature of the criminal case that Mr. Chauvin was convicted of, and given that the discovery that Mr. Chauvin seeks could support Dr. Schaetzel’s opinion of how Mr. Floyd died, the Court finds that there is good cause to allow Mr. Chauvin to take the discovery that he seeks,” Magnuson wrote in Monday’s order.
Manguson wrote that Chauvin’s defense team may take discovery of any histology slides of Floyd’s heart, tissue samples of his heart, tissue blocks containing heart tissue from Floyd and recut sections of all autopsy tissue slides relating to his heart.
Chauvin’s lawyers are also allowed to inspect and make copies of any photographs taken of Floyd’s heart and they can take quantities of certain fluids for testing.
Nelson no longer represents Chauvin. Chauvin’s appeal is now being handled by Robert Meyers, an assistant federal defender in Minneapolis.
Star Tribune
3 years in juvenile facility for Twin Cities teen who fatally shot 16-year-old with ‘ghost gun’
A 17-year-old has admitted that he fatally shot a 16-year-old boy in a New Hope home with a “ghost gun” and was sentenced as a juvenile to a state facility for three years.
Anthony Freebird Wirtjes pleaded guilty in Hennepin County District Court to second-degree manslaughter stemming from the shooting of Keair Marquis Reed, 16, of Chaska, on Sept. 18 in Wirtjes’ home in the 6000 block of N. Quebec Avenue. Reed, who was shot in the eye, died on Sept. 24.
Wirtjes will be housed at the Minnesota Correctional Facility for juveniles in Red Wing until Jan. 9, 2028, when he turns 21.
Cary Reed said in an online fund-raising effort on behalf of the family that his son “did not deserve to have his life taken at such a young age. He had goals and dreams to become a architect. He was fun-loving, protective and a very respectful child [who] leaves behind four brothers and a sister.”
A police firearms examiner tested the 9-millimeter firearm, called a ghost gun because it lacked a serial number and was assembled with parts bought together in a kit or in separate transactions, according to the charges. The examiner found it had a “binary trigger,” meaning it fired when the trigger was squeezed and also when it was released, effectively doubling the rate of fire.
In June, Gov. Tim Walz signed legislation addressing gun violence that included a ban on binary triggers. It takes effect on Jan. 1.
The felon who killed three Burnsville first responders and wounded another in February had a large arsenal in his home — allegedly purchased by his girlfriend as a straw buyer — that included a .300-caliber semiautomatic firearm equipped with a binary trigger.
Trump should ”commit to a significant and sustained increase in defense spending,” McConnell recommended, as well as investments in the defense industry and access to new military capabilities.
McConnell’s essay comes after years of an intensely complicated relationship with Trump, aligning with him when it served his purposes in the Senate while criticizing him behind his back and, to a lesser extent, in public. He did not speak to Trump for more than three years after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol by Trump’s supporters, but endorsed him earlier this year after it became clear that he would be the GOP presidential nominee.
The essay also comes as there is speculation about McConnell’s new role as a rank-and-file member, whether he will oppose some of Trump’s nominees and otherwise challenge him publicly now that he is freed from the responsibilities of leadership.
However that may play out, McConnell has made clear that he wants to cement his legacy by pushing the party to embrace the U.S. role as a global leader.
He writes that Trump will ”no doubt hear from some that he should prioritize a single theater and downgrade U.S. interests and commitments elsewhere,” including by elevating Asia at the expense of interests in Europe and the Middle East. But if ”the United States continues to retreat, its enemies will be only too happy to fill the void.”
‘’A Russian victory would not only damage the United States’ interest in European security and increase U.S. military requirements in Europe; it would also compound the threats from China, Iran, and North Korea,’’ McConnell writes.
Two spray-painted swastikas were found outside Temple Israel, the largest synagogue in Minnesota, its senior rabbi said in a statement Monday.
The symbols were found near the temple’s entrance on Emerson Avenue South, according to Rabbi Marcia Zimmerman, and a report has been filed with the Minneapolis Police Department.
“It is heartbreaking to see such a hateful image directly underneath the words emblazoned above our doors, words that have guided us for generations: ‘My house shall be a house of prayer for all peoples,’” Zimmerman said. “Temple has always been a sacred space, a welcoming place to all who enter with a spirit of community and peace.”
Zimmerman said officials were still reviewing security camera footage from the grounds.
Mayor Jacob Frey, who is Jewish, condemned the act in a post on X Monday afternoon.
“When hate is embraced or tolerated, it is emboldened,” Frey wrote. “I’ve seen antisemitism increase over the last year, yet too few have spoken out against it, opting for the safety of silence. No matter one’s ethnicity or race, when any group is targeted, it’s on all of us to condemn it.”
This is a developing story. Check back later for updates.
