Chauvin represents himself in effort to withdraw tax fraud guilty plea

TUCSON, Arizona - Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer convicted of killing George Floyd in 2020, appeared remotely in Washington County Court on Friday afternoon to withdraw a previous tax fraud guilty plea.

Chauvin pleaded guilty to two counts of tax fraud in March 2023 for failing to file tax returns in Minnesota in 2016 and 2017.

The judge noted that Chauvin had not hired an attorney and asked if he was prepared to argue the motion to withdraw his plea.

READ MORE: Derek Chauvin, who killed George Floyd, pleads guilty in tax case

The judge also stated that since Chauvin had already been sentenced for tax fraud, there is a higher burden of proof on him in order to have the plea withdrawn.

Chauvin then said he does not have access to the court documents in the case because of "the incident" that occurred in November 2023, an apparent reference to the prison attack when he was stabbed 22 times in the law library at the Federal Correctional Institution in Tucson, Arizona, where he remains incarcerated.

He also noted he did not receive a copy of the prosecution’s most recent memorandum and attributed that to mail often taking more than a week to arrive at the prison.

The judge summarized that the memorandum argues Chauvin’s previous guilty plea was voluntary and that the evidence he is relying on to make his case is not relevant.

That evidence, according to state prosecutors, is a W-9 form from a bar that Chauvin previously worked at. The prosecution argues that Chauvin pleaded guilty to not filing taxes at all and that his guilty plea was "accurate, voluntary, and intelligent."

Chauvin responded that any response to the memorandum would have to be handwritten because he does not have access to a computer.

The hearing ended when the judge took the issue under advisement and gave Chauvin an Aug. 1 deadline to respond to the memorandum in writing.