Derek Chauvin receives 22 and a half years for murder of George Floyd
Source: New York Times
MINNEAPOLIS -- Derek Chauvin, the former police officer convicted of murder in the death of George Floyd, was sentenced on Friday to 22 and a half years in prison, bringing a measure of closure to a case that set off waves of protest across the nation over police abuse of Black people. The sentence, delivered by Judge Peter A. Cahill of Hennepin County District Court, came more than a year after a widely shared cellphone video captured Mr. Chauvin pressing his knee on the neck of Mr. Floyd for more than nine minutes along a Minneapolis street.
Earlier this year, Mr. Chauvin was convicted of second-degree murder, and the sentence followed emotional statements in court Friday by members of Mr. Floyd's family as well as by Mr. Chauvin's mother. Mr. Chauvin, who spoke only briefly during the hearing on Friday, offering condolences to the Floyd family, has been behind bars since his trial, which ended in April. The judge said Mr. Chauvin would be credited with 199 days already served toward his sentence. Officials said he was being kept in solitary confinement for his own safety. Before the sentencing hearing, Mr. Chauvin's lawyer, Eric J. Nelson, had pressed the court for leniency, asking for probation and time served.
Mr. Nelson wrote in a memorandum that Mr. Chauvin had not known that he was committing a crime when he tried to arrest Mr. Floyd on a report that he had tried to use a fake $20 bill to buy cigarettes. Mr. Nelson also argued that placing Mr. Chauvin in prison would make him a target of other inmates. In seeking a 30-year prison sentence for Mr. Floyd, prosecutors had argued that the former officer's actions had "traumatized Mr. Floyd's family, the bystanders who watched Mr. Floyd die, and the community. And his conduct shocked the nation's conscience." The killing of Mr. Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man, by Mr. Chauvin, 45, who is white, led to a national reckoning over racial injustice in almost every aspect of American life.
Calls emerged around the country to defund police budgets, remove statues of historical figures tied to racism and diversify predominantly white corporate boards. The maximum sentence allowed under Minnesota law for second-degree murder, the most serious charge Mr. Chauvin was convicted of, is 40 years. Under Minnesota's sentencing guidelines, though, a presumptive sentence for someone like Mr. Chauvin with no criminal history is 12.5 years. The jury, which deliberated for just over 10 hours following a six week trial, also convicted Mr. Chauvin of third-degree murder and manslaughter.
Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/25/us/derek-chauvin-22-and-a-half-years-george-floyd.html
Original article -
Chauvin is sentenced to 22-and-a-half years
Judge Cahill announced that Chauvin is sentenced to 270 months in prison.
https://abcnews.go.com/US/live-updates/derek-chauvin/?id78469886
Link to tweet
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@ABC
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BREAKING: Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin sentenced to 22.5 years in the murder of George Floyd.
AZLD4Candidate
(5,748 posts)napi21
(45,806 posts)close to the max of 30 years.
AZLD4Candidate
(5,748 posts)oldsoftie
(12,591 posts)RevBrotherThomas
(838 posts)The defense was asking for probation and time served. This is a win.
AZLD4Candidate
(5,748 posts)IF Chauvin was black, you know the book would have been thrown at him.
EndlessWire
(6,562 posts)His life is over. How's he gonna live inside a prison as an ex cop who killed someone? I think it will give a lotta pause to those bad apples who love to go beyond their job descriptions.
My next door neighbor beat someone to death with a ball bat. He got 25 to life, with one extra year enhancement for using a weapon (the bat.) So, to me Chauvin's sentence is pretty stiff.
The whole thing is sad. I hope that Floyd's family gets some relief now.
AZLD4Candidate
(5,748 posts)HE got 12.5/30 for the murder and 10/10 for the abuse of power. 22.5 out of 40. If he serves it all, he will be 67 with the sunset years free when released and Floyd will still be dead.
Aristus
(66,450 posts)George Floyd back, but to prevent cops from being quite so cavalier about murder in the future. Maybe they can re-read and re-examine the phrase "To Protect And Serve".
I think 22 years is great. I was worried Chauvin was going to get a slap on the wrist.
AZLD4Candidate
(5,748 posts)42% of the maximum. The system failed.
Aristus
(66,450 posts)A slap on the wrist would have been system failure. The system worked. Not perfectly, but it worked.
AZLD4Candidate
(5,748 posts)Why are people defending the indefensible?
Aristus
(66,450 posts)And he has a murder conviction on his record. I don't think there was ever a chance he was going to be told he was free to go, and have his piece and his badge handed to him. But a lot of us were worried about genuinely light, non-punitive sentences.
Killer cops don't have an easy time of it in the joint. He's going to have a rough twenty two years.
AZLD4Candidate
(5,748 posts)Aristus
(66,450 posts)But much harsher than the nothing cops used to get.
Maybe cop-supporters won't leap right to the "Well, he's dead; he must have done something wrong" defense quite so quickly in the future.
EX500rider
(10,849 posts)US averages:
By offense type, the median time served was 13.4 years for murder, 2.2 years for violent crimes excluding murder, 17 months for drug trafficking, and 10 months for drug possession.
qazplm135
(7,447 posts)like abuse of power, the maximum isn't 30 anymore.
I'm African American and an experienced criminal law attorney who has been on both sides. This is a reasonable sentence.
AZLD4Candidate
(5,748 posts)If a black drug dealer shoots someone in a buy gone wrong, what do you assume their sentence would be? Don't cop out and say "that's hypothetical."
Drug dealers get more time than he did FOR MURDER!!!
qazplm135
(7,447 posts)Is this their first crime? What's the maximum? Are there aggravating factors?
The standard is 12.5 if not.
But feel what you feel, there's nothing anyone can say to change that
ShazzieB
(16,497 posts)I don't think the system failed. Acquittal would have been a failure, but he was convicted on all charges. Giving him the probation that the defense asked for would have been a failure, but that is not what happened. He is going to serve a significant amount of time.
Is this a perfect outcome? Hell, no. But perfect was never going to happen, because the criminal justice system is not perfect. It's a flawed, imperfect system that produces flawed, imperfect outcomes. That's not a good thing, and reforms are badly needed, but it's what the judge had to work with, and we need to recognize that.
EndlessWire
(6,562 posts)We can't bring Floyd back. I think the sentence is appropriate for someone killing a human being under color of authority without regard to his suffering. Do you think for a second that any day of this sentence will be comfy and cozy? He'll probably commit suicide in the jail. I'd rather take an overdose than live through it. He has no points to press, his appeals will be denied, and getting out of jail at 67, if he survives, will be no cake walk. All he's got left now is being "a model prisoner" in hopes of clemency by a Repub pres. Not likely to happen.
Mr. Evil
(2,853 posts)He killed George Floyd intentionally with depraved indifference to human life. Fuck him! He should've gotten the hammer. Life in prison.
cstanleytech
(26,319 posts)given is acceptable.
Great? No, but acceptable.
-misanthroptimist
(819 posts)I mean, Chauvin terrorized and murdered a guy while abusing power and in broad daylight in front of witnesses, including children, and gets 56% of the maximum sentence.
onecaliberal
(32,888 posts)Melanin.
sdfernando
(4,940 posts)22.5 is 75% of the max not 56%. I wish he got the full 100% but lets at least be accurate.
AZLD4Candidate
(5,748 posts)Without the abuse of power, he would have gotten 12.5 out of 30.
sarisataka
(18,767 posts)He would have to have had a lengthy criminal history with multiple felony convictions
-misanthroptimist
(819 posts)sarisataka
(18,767 posts)Prior convictions. There are different standards for multiple charges for the same action.
This has all been gone over multiple times. Life was never on the table with a 2nd degree charge and if they overcharged with 1st degree he could likely have walked free.
The 40 year max is for career criminals which his history did not support. 30 was the absolute maximum and our local legal experts said that too was unlikely.
People were predicting five years earlier today but the judge deviated from the standard sentence upwards by ten years.
FarPoint
(12,434 posts)Is he eligible for early release or parole? I didn't hear anything about that in the sentencing....Folks on FB are already saying he will only serve 10 years?
JenniferJuniper
(4,515 posts)FarPoint
(12,434 posts)I just switched my internet service and Cable tv from ATT to a fiber line with Metronet .but not TV with them.. I'm going to set up YouTube tonight. Once I figure out if all charges can be thru Amazon???! So, my point...no CNN or MSNBC on TV .just in the car ..
AZLD4Candidate
(5,748 posts)The system has been exposed. BLM is completely correct.
oldsoftie
(12,591 posts)BumRushDaShow
(129,410 posts)that he could serve "2/3rds" (which is 15 years) for good behavior before possibly being eligible for parole.
COL Mustard
(5,921 posts)He won't be out in 15. He probably won't be out in 22.5. He may never come out.
BumRushDaShow
(129,410 posts)COL Mustard
(5,921 posts)Now, I don't know how that explains ME, but you, clearly are a great mind!!!
BumRushDaShow
(129,410 posts)A frazzled one is more like it. :
ShazzieB
(16,497 posts)"Possibly" means it could happen, not that it necessarily will.
"Eligible for parole" doesn't mean parole is automatic at that point. There are criteria that have to be met, and a lot can happen between now and then.
"Possibly eligible for parole" is a hypothetical statement. It is not a given that he'll be out at 15 years, and I'll be surprised if he is.
walkingman
(7,657 posts)AZLD4Candidate
(5,748 posts)FarPoint
(12,434 posts)in prison from the Correction Officers...just no freedom...
AZLD4Candidate
(5,748 posts)parole board and will be released well before his time.
There's justice for you.
Budi
(15,325 posts)Should he serve 15 yrs, or 2/3 of his sentence.
This is sickening. He should have had life.
ShazzieB
(16,497 posts)Not for 2nd degree murder. And as someone pointed out, charging him with murder one could have resulted in his going free. The bar for conviction would have been much higher, and it wasn't worth the risk.
Personally, I wasn't expecting that he'd get the maximum sentence of 30 years, and I know he could have gotten a lot less than he did, so I'm okay with this. Thrilled? No. But I am very glad it wasn't less,, which it very well could have been. Knowing what the realistic possibilities were,
In a strict moral sense, sure, he deserves to be put away forever. But that's not how sentencing decisions are made. It just doesnt work that way in this highly imperfect world that we live in.
Considering how this could have turned out and how amazed and relieved we all were when Chauvin was actually convicted on ALL counts, I'm okay with this.
Budi
(15,325 posts)jmowreader
(50,562 posts)While I don't think it's enough - since he was a cop and they need to be held to a higher standard, he should have received 20 years for the murder - it was what he was going to get anyway.
ShazzieB
(16,497 posts)I wasn't even counting on that much.
Cinnamonspice
(163 posts)The chances of thirty years were slim, but this will do.
Maybe he'll have time to think about his actions, assuming he gets to live.
catbyte
(34,440 posts)My dad took it to the max, for instance, he would never go to a bar because he thought he needed to set an example (which I thought was a bit extreme but I admired his ethics.)
But his time in prison will not be easy because they won't risk putting him in general population so he will likely be locked up for 23 hours of the day which is no fun.
marble falls
(57,177 posts)JohnSJ
(92,379 posts)BumRushDaShow
(129,410 posts)so the potential is for additional years after this sentence... unless they decide to let justice go by the wayside and make any additional sentence "concurrent".
BootinUp
(47,185 posts)The sentence time would be lower. Its pretty stiff relative to the history of sentences for policemen, I think. Im not saying this is justice but it is a measure of it at least.
JohnnyRingo
(18,640 posts)20+ years is not insubstantial for someone with his record, so he was probably sentenced much like anyone else for a similar crime. I know many will disagree and think life w/o parole is warranted, but he didn't sit at home plotting the murder, then pull his sidearm and blow Floyd's brains out on the sidewalk.
As far as I'm concerned, justice has been served and a message sent to law enforcement that they can be held accountable for cruel deeds beyond the scope of their duty.
Blasphemer
(3,261 posts)And I think the judge is in a tricky situation. There's a lot of public pressure to go for the max sentence (for good reasons) but I do think fairness dictates considering what is typical for a first time offender. I personally don't believe in a punishment-based criminal justice system no matter how heinous the crime. Ideally, the goal should always be rehabilitation unless that is impossible. In an ideal world that would be possible here and people would be open to that possibility. I really don't think that can happen though. I think the best he can hope for after release is changing his name, moving somewhere remote, and trying to live a quiet life in anonymity.
Auggie
(31,184 posts)oldsoftie
(12,591 posts)Thats a 5 yr sentence. Involuntary usually isnt even 2 yrs.
Auggie
(31,184 posts)liberalmuse
(18,672 posts)I guess that was just too hard, even with those who have their humanity still intact begging him not to. My sympathies lie with George Floyd's family - his daughter who has to live the rest of her life without her daddy.
bucolic_frolic
(43,267 posts)Old days it would have been 'nothing to see here, move on', and no evidence to give background. Generally people seem to think the sentence on the light side but it does send a message and just a few years ago this would have gone nowhere. So remain vigilant, if you see something, make a note, make a video, write it down.
truthisfreedom
(23,154 posts)Lock him up.
Mike Nelson
(9,966 posts)... the judge went "by the book" with the sentencing. That's what I would have done... this case is high profile. You look at what the guidelines are, and go with what any judge would sentence. Stick with the guidelines. He issued a statement supporting the sentence(s). Most importantly, the fact that a police officer was the killer did not mean a light sentence.
BumRushDaShow
(129,410 posts)was that he spent quite a bit of time insisting that he wasn't going to be taking a lot of time to make any comments... and then he went ahead and did so anyway.
He did say he would let the "written" (22 page IIRC) sentencing document lay out his reasoning but probably should have left it at that.
Aussie105
(5,429 posts)I was hoping for life, but I will take this.
A lesson for power tripping cops. Yes, you want to, but you shouldn't expect to get away with it. So don't!
What next?
More charges?
Compensation to the family?
A statue of Floyd, with his knee on Chauvin's neck?
sarisataka
(18,767 posts)When none of the charges included life as a possible punishment?
Scruffy1
(3,256 posts)The state of Minnesota has nine felony counts on him and he goes to court on those June 30th. I would assume if he is being charged by the state he will soon be charged by the IRS since Minnesota taxes use the federal adjusted gross income as the base. He's not getting out for a very long time although camp fed is generally nicer than Stillwater.
twodogsbarking
(9,805 posts)All is took was a video of the crime and weeks of protests and riots.
.