Derek Chauvin is requesting a new trial citing "misconduct" by the jury and prosecutors.

The 45-year-old former Minneapolis police officer, who knelt on George Floyd's neck for more than nine minutes, faces up to 40 years in prison after being found guilty on all charges last month.

Chauvin's lawyer has filed court documents obtained by NPR claiming that the publicity surrounding the three-week trial resulted in the defendant not receiving a fair trial.

As per the court documents filed in Hennepin County District Court on Tuesday, the convicted ex-cop's attorney Eric Nelson wrote:

"The publicity here was so pervasive and so prejudicial before and during this trial that it amounted to a structural defect in the proceedings."

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The filing alleges that there was "race-based pressure" on the jurors and that errors had been made by the judge.

According to Nelson, Judge Peter Cahill denied his client of a fair trial when he dismissed the request to move the trial to another county.

The court papers state: "The Court abused its discretion when it denied Defendant's motion for a change of venue… in violation of Mr. Chauvin's constitutional rights to a due process and a fair trial."

Per NPR, Chauvin's lawyer states that Judge Cahill should have isolated the jury for the trial or told them to avoid consuming any media coverage. Nelson also took issue with his refusal to allow the individual who was with Floyd at the time of his arrest to testify.

The filing comes as one juror's impartiality has been called into question after images began circulating of him at a racial justice protest.

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Brandon Mitchell, 31, was one of the two jurors who have gone public since Chauvin's conviction on April 20.

Per the BBC, he was pictured wearing a shirt with a photo of the late Martin Luther King Jr on it, as well as the words "Get Your Knee Off Our Necks" and the letters "BLM".

But as part of a pre-trial questionnaire, potential jurors were asked if they had taken part in any anti-police brutality protests following Floyd's death on May 25, 2020 – Mitchell answered "no" to that question.

He later told the Minneapolis Star Tribune that he went to the rally to commemorate the civil rights movement and did not consider it to be an anti-police brutality gathering.

He said: "The opportunity to be around thousands and thousands of black people, I just thought it was a good opportunity to be a part of something."

Featured image credit: UPI / Alamy

Derek Chauvin asks for new trial two weeks after he was found guilty of killing George Floyd