Many people, including high-profile people, are ragging on criminal defense attorney Eric Nelson for doing his constitutionally protected job by defending Derek Chauvin. At least one Minnesota attorney has been forced to preemptively declare that he is entirely undeserving of any criticism whatsoever connected to the case — despite being named Eric Nelson.
Attorney Eric C. Nelson, who practices “[e]xclusively in [f]amily [l]aw” and has done so “since 1996,” posted the following in red-letter font on his website in an apparent attempt to clear up the confusion:
NOTE: IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR THE ERIC NELSON WHO IS REPRESENTING DEREK CHAUVIN, THAT’S NOT ME. YOU WANT THIS GUY. (Welcome to Minnesota, where the name Eric Nelson is as common as walleye sandwiches. I wish my parents had named me Thor instead. Then I wouldn’t have this problem.)
The only confusion then would have potentially been with a former National Hockey League linesman named Thor Eric Nelson. (Sigh.)
To be clear, Chauvin’s defense attorney is Eric J. Nelson. His middle initial, which is clearly different from that of the aggrieved and unfairly maligned Eric C. Nelson, appears in scores of court papers on file in the Chauvin case which have been publicly available on a state court website since last year.
Source:
Minnesota Attorney with Same Name as Derek Chauvin’s Lawyer Wishes Parents Named Him ‘Thor’ Instead