The judge in Derek Chauvin's murder trial characterized the killing of George Floyd late last spring as especially cruel in his finding of several aggravated sentencing factors, clearing the way for him to exceed state guidelines and impose a longer sentence for the fired Minneapolis police officer.
In rulings filed Wednesday that embraced many of the major prosecution points that led to Chauvin's conviction last month, Hennepin County District Judge Peter Cahill said the facts of the case showed there are four aggravated factors that "have been proven beyond a reasonable doubt" and will be considered when he sentences Chauvin on June 25.
Those factors are that Chauvin "abused a position of trust and authority" as a police officer, that he "treated George Floyd with particular cruelty," that children were present when Floyd was pinned to the pavement at 38th and Chicago for more than nine minutes until he died, and that he committed the crime with the "active participation" of others, namely three fellow officers.
Chauvin, 45, was convicted April 20 on charges of second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in connection with Floyd's death on May 25. Defense attorney Eric Nelson declined to comment on Cahill's rulings.
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, who put together the team that prosecuted Chauvin, said in a statement, "We appreciate the court agreed with our assessment of the aggravating factors. The particular cruelty of Derek Chauvin's conduct, his abuse of authority with his fellow officers and the impact of this crime on the minors who had to witness it require a sentence that holds Mr. Chauvin sufficiently accountable."
Although the maximum term for a second-degree murder conviction is 40 years, the most Chauvin could receive would be 30 years, given that he has no previous criminal history, according to Ted Sampsell-Jones, a professor at the Mitchell Hamline School of Law and an appellate criminal defense attorney. The first 20 years would be served in prison and the balance on supervised release, if Chauvin qualifies.
"The judge basically threw the book at him," said Minneapolis defense attorney Joe Tamburino.
"Obviously, Mr. Chauvin is going to get a lot more time than what the guidelines call for," in this case 12 ½ years, Tamburino said. "I think the judge is going to give him 30 years."