BRANDON Mitchell, the BLM-supporting juror in Derek Chauvin's trial, has been accused of lying to infiltrate the ex-cop's case.
A criminal defense attorney said that Mitchell sitting on the jury gives Chauvin's team a "slam dunk reason" to overturn his conviction.
In an interview with Fox News on Wednesday, attorney Jonna Spilbor accused Mitchell of lying to get on the jury.
"The irony is not lost that most people lie to get out of jury duty," Spilbor said.
"I think what we have here is somebody who lied to get on jury duty, specifically for this case, because we now have newly discovered information that a person on the jury is either a member of, or proponent of [Black Lives Matter].
"You cannot have a member of BLM on this particular jury any more than you could put a mother against drunk driving on a DWI trial. You absolutely cannot do that."
The attorney was referring to the recent news that Mitchell posted a photo of himself online over the summer wearing a BLM T-shirt that said, "Get your knee of our necks."
Mitchell was one of the 12 jurors who convicted ex-Minneapolis cop Chauvin of second and third-degree murder and manslaughter over the killing of George Floyd.
The 31-year-old black man is seen standing with two cousins and wearing the T-shirt in question. The photo has recently recirculated online.
Mitchell has acknowledged being at the event but said that it was not an anti-police rally or a specific commemoration for George Floyd.
While the phrase on the shirt would seem to be derived from the Floyd case, the image on the shirt is of Martin Luther King, Jr.
Floyd, 46, died on May 25, 2020, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, while being arrested after a grocery employee alleged that he had used a fake $20 bill.
Spilbor said that the defense could argue that Mitchell lied to get on the jury.
"If you want to be anti-Derek Chauvin, that’s fine, but you cannot participate on the jury that decided his fate if that’s how you believe," the attorney said.
"You can march in the streets, you can have any kind of belief you want, but you cannot also sit on that jury."
Before being selected for the jury, potential jurors were reportedly asked two questions about attending demonstrations. Mitchell reportedly answer no to both.
The jury in the case found Chauvin guilty on all three charges he was facing after just 11 hours of deliberations.
The 45-year-old former officer faces a maximum sentence of 75 years in jail for the charges.
Chauvin's attorney has already filed a motion demanding a new trial over "jury misconduct."
In the motion, filed on Tuesday, Chauvin's attorney, Eric J. Nelson, requested a new trial on the following grounds: "the interest of justice; abuse of discretion that deprived the Defendant of a fair trial; prosecutorial and jury misconduct; errors of law at trial; and a verdict that is contrary to law."
Nelson also claimed that the court abused its discretion for failing to agree to the defense's request for a change of venue and sequestering the jury, documents show.
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