Source: Politics<\/p>\n
MINNEAPOLIS \u2014 Former Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin<\/a> learns his sentence Friday for murder in George Floyd’<\/a> s death, closing a chapter in a case that sparked global outrage and a reckoning on racial disparities in America.<\/p>\n Chauvin, 45, faces decades in prison, with several legal experts predicting a sentence of 20 to 25 years. Though Chauvin is widely expected to appeal, he also still faces trial on federal civil rights charges, along with three other fired officers who have yet to have their state trials.<\/p>\n The concrete barricades, razor wire and National Guard patrols that shrouded the county courthouse for Chauvin’s three-week trial are gone, and so is most of the tension in the city as it awaited a verdict in April<\/a>. Still, there’s a recognition that Chauvin’s sentencing will be another major step forward for a city that has been on edge since Floyd’s death on May 25, 2020.<\/p>\n \u201cBetween the incident, the video, the riots, the trial \u2014 this is the pinnacle of it,\u201d Mike Brandt, a local defense attorney who has closely followed Chauvin’s case, said. \u201cThe verdict was huge too, but this is where the justice comes down.\u201d <\/p>\n Chauvin was convicted of second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter for pressing his knee against Floyd\u2019s neck for about 9 1\/2 minutes as the Black man said he couldn\u2019t breathe and went limp. Bystander video of Floyd’s arrest for suspicion of passing a counterfeit $20 bill prompted protests around the world and a nationwide reckoning on race and police brutality. <\/p>\n Before the sentencing hearing Friday, Judge Peter Cahill denied Chauvin’s request for a new trial, saying defense attorney Eric Nelson has not shown that the court abused its discretion or that there was any prosecutorial misconduct that would have deprived Chauvin of his right to a fair trial. Nelson argued that intense publicity around Floyd\u2019s death tainted the jury pool and that the trial should have been moved away from Minneapolis. <\/p>\n Cahill also rejected Nelson\u2019s request for a hearing into possible juror misconduct, saying Nelson failed to show there was any juror misconduct or that a juror gave false testimony during questioning. Nelson had accused juror Brandon Mitchell of not being candid during jury selection because he didn\u2019t mention his participation in a march last summer to honor the Martin Luther King Jr. Prosecutors countered that Mitchell had been open about his views in a jury questionnaire and during the questioning of potential jurors.<\/p>\n Under Minnesota statutes<\/a>, Chauvin will be sentenced only on the most serious charge, which has a maximum sentence of 40 years. But case law dictates that a 30-year sentence would be the practical maximum sentence<\/a> Cahill could impose without risk of being overturned on appeal. <\/p>\n Prosecutors asked for 30 years, saying Chauvin\u2019s actions were egregious and \u201cshocked the nation\u2019s conscience.\u201d Nelson requested probation, saying Chauvin was the product of a \u201cbroken\u201d system and \u201cbelieved he was doing his job.\u201d<\/p>\n Cahill has already found that aggravating factors in Floyd\u2019s death<\/a> warrant going higher than the 12 1\/2-year sentence recommended by the state’s sentencing guidelines. The judge found Chauvin abused his position of authority, treated Floyd with particular cruelty, and that the crime was seen by several children. He also wrote that Chauvin knew the restraint of Floyd was dangerous.<\/p>\n \u201cThe prolonged use of this technique was particularly egregious in that George Floyd made it clear he was unable to breathe and expressed the view that he was dying as a result of the officers\u2019 restraint,\u201d Cahill wrote last month.<\/p>\n