George Floyd murder should get 30 years__ prosecutors
Prosecuting councils have asked a judge to sentence Derek Chauvin, the murderer of George Floyd and former Minneapolis police officer, to a 30-year prison sentence.
Prosecuting councils have asked a judge to sentence Derek Chauvin, the murderer of George Floyd and former Minneapolis police officer, to a 30-year prison sentence.
Recall that the officer was convicted for the killing in April and is due to be sentenced on 25 June.
On Wednesday the prosecution said in a statement the killing had “shocked the conscience of the Nation” and demanded a long sentence.
But the defense described the killing as “an error made in good faith” based on Derek Chauvin’s training.
George Floyd’s murder caused global outrage and a wave of demonstrations against racism and the police’s use of force.
Moreso, in the sentencing brief filed Wednesday, prosecutors cite the trial judge’s ruling last month that there were four aggravating factors in Floyd’s murder.
Judge Peter Cahill said in a six-page opinion last month that prosecutors had proven that Chauvin had abused his position of trust and authority, treated Floyd with particular cruelty, acted in concert with at least three other people, and committed his crime in the presence of children.
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The ruling paved the way for Cahill to sentence Chauvin to more than 15 years in prison, the longest punishment for second-degree murder under state sentencing guidelines. Cahill agreed with all but one of the aggravating factors prosecutors cited when they asked for what is known as an upward departure.
Prosecutors wrote in the brief that at Chauvin’s sentencing June 25, “the Court should take the next step and hold that each of these aggravating factors” is grounds for imposing a sentence two times the upper end of the presumptive sentencing range.
“Mr. Chauvin asks the Court to look beyond its findings, to his background, his lack of criminal history, his amenability to probation, to the unusual facts of this case, and to his being a product of a ‘broken system,” Nelson wrote.
