Former police officer Derek Chauvin sentenced to 22-1/2 years in prison for George Floyd's death

Record ID: 1623440

  • Title: Former police officer Derek Chauvin sentenced to 22-1/2 years in prison for George Floyd's death
  • Date: 25th June 2021
  • Summary: MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA, UNITED STATES (JUNE 25, 2021) (UNRESTRICTED POOL) WIDE OF FORMER MINNEAPOLIS POLICE OFFICER DEREK CHAUVIN (BALD WEARING LIGHT GRAY SUIT AND TIE) SEATED IN COURT CHAUVIN LISTENING AS JUDGE PETER CAHILL (OFF CAMERA) ANNOUNCES HIS SENTENCE, SAYING: "I'm not basing my sentence also on public opinion. I am not basing it on any attempt to send any messages. A trial court judge, the job of a trial court judge, is to apply the law to specific facts and to deal with individual cases. And so, Mr. Chauvin, as to count one, based on the verdict of the jury finding you guilty of unintentional second degree murder while committing a felony under Minnesota Statute 609.19 subdivision to Paragraph one, it is the judgment of the court that you now stand convicted of that offense pursuant to Minnesota statute Section six or nine, all four counts. Two and three will remain on adjudicated as they are lesser offenses of count one. A sentence for count one, the court commits you to the custody, the commissioner of corrections for a period of 270 months, that's to seven zero. That is that 10 year addition to the presumptive sentence of one hundred and fifty months. This is based on your abuse of a position of trust and authority and also the particular cruelty shown to George Floyd. You're granted credit for 199 days already served, pay the mandatory surcharge of seventy eight dollars to be paid from prison wages. You're prohibited from possessing firearms, ammunition or explosives for the remainder of your life. Provide a DNA sample as required by law, registered as a predatory offender as required by law. You will receive a copy of the order and also the attached memorandum explaining the court's analysis. Anything further from the state?” STATE PROSECUTOR (OFF CAMERA): "If this needs to be said, we just asked that it be executed forthwith." CAHILL: “The tenant is remanded in custody, the sheriff to be transported back to the DOC (Department of Corrections) or wherever custody is currently holding him. Anything from the defense?" DEFENSE ATTORNEY ERIC NELSON, "No, your honor." CAHILL: "We are adjourned." CHAUVIN GETTING UP AND FOLLOWING SHERIFF THROUGH DOOR
  • Embargoed: 9th July 2021 21:03
  • Keywords: Derek Chauvin George Floyd Minneapolis death police sentencing
  • Location: MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA, UNITED STATES
  • City: MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA, UNITED STATES
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: Crime/Law/Justice,Crime,United States
  • Reuters ID: LVA001EIWIIX3
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: A Minnesota judge sentenced former police officer Derek Chauvin to 22-1/2 years in prison on Friday (June 25) for the murder of George Floyd during an arrest in May 2020 on a Minneapolis sidewalk, video of which sparked global protests.
    A jury found Chauvin, 45, guilty on April 20 of unintentional second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter after a trial that was widely seen as a watershed moment in the history of U.S. policing.
    Prosecutors had asked for a 30-year prison sentence, double the upper limit indicated in sentencing guidelines for a first-time offender. The defense had asked for probation.
    Video of Chauvin, who is white, kneeling on the neck of Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man in handcuffs, for more than nine minutes caused outrage around the world and the largest protest movement seen in the United States in decades.
    In a sentencing memorandum, prosecutors from the Minnesota attorney general's office wrote that Chauvin's crime "shocked the conscience of the Nation."
    In a six-page ruling last month, Hennepin County District Judge Peter Cahill found that prosecutors had shown there were four aggravating factors that would allow him to hand down a longer prison term than sentencing guidelines would dictate. The judge agreed that Chauvin abused his position of trust and authority; that he treated Floyd with particular cruelty; that he committed the crime as part of a group with three other officers; and that he committed the murder in front of children.
    Chauvin has been held at the state's maximum security prison in Oak Park Heights since his conviction.
    In Minnesota, convicted people with good behavior spend two thirds of their sentence in prison and the final third on supervised release.
    The three other police officers involved in Floyd's arrest were, like Chauvin, fired the day after. The three are due to face trial next year on charges of aiding and abetting Floyd's murder.
    (Production: Deborah Gembara)
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