The judge sentenced former police officer Derek Chauvin to 22 and a half years in prison for the death of African American George Floyd last year in Minneapolis.
45-year-old Chauvin was found guilty on all three counts of murder after killing Floyd in a brutal arrest, recorded by several people present and which sparked a worldwide mobilization against racism and police brutality.
After the verdict, Chauvin was isolated for his own safety.
“I have not issued the sentence on the basis of public opinion nor do I try to send any message with it,” warned the magistrate, Peter Cahill, aware of the global impact of the trial.
Cahill delivered the verdict in an emotionally charged hearing. Several of Floyd’s relatives took the floor, a video of his young daughter, Gianna, aged seven, was shown, and for the first time, the mother of the convicted ex-policeman could be heard. Carolyn Pawlenty defended her son by saying he is “a good man”.
Chauvin refused a formal statement, but gave his condolences to the African American’s relatives.
The former policeman faced up to 40 years in prison. The prosecution had asked for 30 years, alleging that the agent had acted with cruelty from a position of authority and with the aggravating circumstance of the presence of minors. The defense unsuccessfully asked for a retrial, arguing that the jury would not act freely and impartially, as it was under pressure and threatened by public opinion. The whole country, and half the world, had their eyes on this process, which has become a milestone in the fight against abuses by the security forces. In the wake of the case, Congress is debating a police reform bill named after Floyd.
The convictions of police officers for manslaughter on duty are very rare. According to a survey by Bowling Green State University Philip M. Stinson only 11 have been convicted since 2005, including Chauvin. He will be, in the history of Minneapolis, the second officer to go behind bars for a crime during a police action.
The most serious crime for which he was convicted, second degree unintentional murder, applies when the murder is not premeditated but occurs while another crime is being committed, in this case that of assaulting Floyd. It usually involves a 12 and a half year sentence for a convict with no criminal record, as in the case of Chauvin. The former agent was also convicted of third degree murder and second degree manslaughter.
The first applies to someone who acts extremely dangerously, regardless of human life, and foresees up to 25 years, but normally it is 10.5 years. And the third charge, that of manslaughter of second degree, punishes culpable negligence: whoever commits it, knowing the risks, causes death or serious damage. You risk up to 10 years.
The other three officers who were with Chauvin that day, Thomas Lane, J. Kueng and Tou Thao, will be tried in March 2022 for being complicit in the manslaughter crimes. On the sidelines of the criminal case against Chauvin and his companions, George Floyd’s family filed a civil lawsuit against the city of Minneapolis that ended last March with a historic $ 27 million in compensation to avoid trial. According to the Floyd’s attorney Ben Crump, this is the biggest deal ever made in a civil rights lawsuit.