Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer convicted of killing George Floyd, will appeal his conviction to the U.S. Supreme Court, his attorneys said.

The decision to appeal came soon after Minnesota’s highest court denied Chauvin’s request to review his case. Chauvin was sentenced to more than 20 years in prison for second-degree murder in the 2020 killing of Floyd, which sparked protests and unrest across the nation over police brutality and systemic racism.

Associated Press

Gregory M. Erickson, an attorney for Chauvin, confirmed the decision to appeal.

Chauvin faces long odds at the Supreme Court, which declines to decide the vast majority of appeals.

Chauvin, who is white, held his knee on Floyd’s neck and ignored his protests that he couldn’t breathe, a scene captured by widely viewed witness videos. Floyd was Black. 

Another Chauvin attorney, William Mohrman, told The Associated Press that the most significant question on which the team appealed was whether holding the proceedings in Minneapolis in 2021 deprived Chauvin of his right to a fair trial because of pretrial publicity and concerns for violence if there was an acquittal.