Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin’s attorney says he’s received no real update regarding Chauvin’s condition after he was stabbed at a Tucson, Ariz., prison over the weekend.
Chauvin’s lawyer, Bill Mohrman, joined Liz Collin Monday to discuss the incident.
“The only definitive thing we know at this point is contact was made with Derek’s father by the Bureau of Prisons,” Mohrman said. “The information provided to his father was very vague. His father was told that Derek is in an undisclosed hospital and is in stable condition.”
Chauvin was stabbed on Friday afternoon in the federal prison around 12:30 p.m. local time. The Associated Press initially reported that Chauvin was stabbed by another inmate and was seriously injured.
“No employees were injured during the incident. Responding employees initiated life-saving measures for one incarcerated individual. Emergency Medical Services (EMS) were requested while life-saving efforts continued. The incarcerated individual was transported by EMS to a local hospital for further treatment and evaluation,” a press release stated.
The federal correctional institution where Chauvin is incarcerated is a medium-security prison. According to Mohrman, Chauvin felt “very safe” there.
“It is a medium-security facility, which, in an odd sense, helps him because the individuals there are not serving significant amounts of time, which would be an incentive for somebody not to do this who’s a prisoner, because whoever did this presumably is going to be charged and convicted of attempted murder and is now going to go to a maximum-security facility for a long time,” Mohrman explained.
Chauvin’s mother, Carolyn Pawlenty, told Alpha News that she and other relatives knew nothing about his injury, other than what was reported in the media, until they were contacted Monday.
“I do find it troubling that, first of all, this was revealed to the media before Derek’s mother or father were contacted first. I would assume that would be standard operating procedure in a prison, that if a prisoner is harmed, that their next of kin is contacted right away. And particularly, my understanding is, Derek’s mother has a medical power of attorney for him. If he needed surgery or something … Derek’s mom would need to be contacted. And there was no effort made to do that,” Mohrman said.
He also commented on Chauvin’s legal options after the Supreme Court declined to hear his appeal as well as “new evidence” from a Hennepin County court case.
“The Supreme Court has issued a lot of controversial decisions in the last couple of years. Whether or not they wanted to wade into this, I don’t know if that was a factor or not, but it certainly could have been,” he said.
Hayley Feland
Hayley Feland previously worked as a journalist with The Minnesota Sun, The Wisconsin Daily Star, and The College Fix. She is a Minnesota native with a passion for politics and journalism.
