That is the event.

The rest, so far, is argument.

WDAY Radio and Fox News report that this would be Chauvin’s third bid for postconviction relief. Valley News Live and American Greatness report that the proposed district-court petition would seek vacatur of the conviction and dismissal of the charges.

The relief now requested from the Court of Appeals is a stay. It is not a current request for an appellate ruling on the merits of the proposed petition. No disposition of the stay request appeared in the material reviewed for this article.

Chauvin was convicted in April 2021 of second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in George Floyd’s death. Valley News Live reports that a three-judge appeals panel affirmed the conviction and that the Minnesota and United States Supreme Courts declined review.

Fox and WDAY report that a judge denied Chauvin’s second postconviction petition in May 2026. The subsequent appeal remains pending. The new motion asks that it be paused for attempt number three.

A filing changes what a court has been asked to do. It does not change what the court has done.

The defense theory, as described by Fox and Valley News Live, challenges Gov. Tim Walz’s assignment of Attorney General Keith Ellison to the prosecution. It also alleges that the absence of a grand jury and indictment deprived Judge Peter Cahill of jurisdiction. Chauvin’s attorney, Greg Joseph, told Alpha News that what happened was “shocking” and “inexcusable.” He called the trial “a fraud.”

Those are claims made by Chauvin’s defense. They are not findings made by a court.

The source record here is incomplete. The filing itself was not obtained in this review. News reports disagree even about its page count. No response from the state appeared in the material reviewed here. Neither did a ruling on the requested stay or on the merits of the proposed district-court petition.

This does not prove Chauvin’s claims are wrong.

It means they have not been proved here.

Elon Musk then supplied his opinion. According to Fox and The National News Desk, Musk wrote on X: “Derek Chauvin was unjustly convicted of murder, therefore he should be freed.”

The useful word is “should.”

It announces a desired result. It does not announce a court order.

Some headlines used “bombshell.” Bombshell is not a procedural status. The more careful words were smaller:

  • Seeks.
  • Alleging.
  • Should.

These words are load-bearing. Remove them and a request becomes a victory. An accusation becomes a fact. A billionaire’s post becomes an appellate mandate.

Due process matters whether a defendant is admired, despised or useful to somebody’s audience. But declaring the answer before a court gives one is not due process. It is a cheering section with legal nouns.

For now, Chauvin seeks a stay. His lawyers propose asking a district court for broader relief. Musk says Chauvin should be freed.

The appellate request remains a request.

That is the news.