One thing the judge has to consider when sentencing is that

[Beachnutt]

there were children present and watching chauvin murder a man knowingly

[Ocelot II]

1. The judge doesn't decide the sentence but can modify it under some circumstances:

The office of the Commissioner of Corrections does a pre-sentence investigation and prepares a report based on the state's sentencing guidelines. The guidelines will list a presumptive sentence, from which the judge can depart upwards but only up to the maximum sentence for the most serious offense. If the judge departs from the guidelines he has to explain why in detail; according to the guidelines commentary a permissible reason for an upward departure includes: "The offense was committed in the presence of a child." https://mn.gov/msgc-stat/documents/Guidelines/2020/August2020MinnSentencingGuidelinesCommentary.pdf

[Jim__]

2. The prosecution has filed a "Blakely" motion based on aggravating factors.

From Kare News

...

The prosecution has also filed a "Blakely" motion for an upward departure based on aggravating factors. Chauvin waived his right to have a jury decide whether those factors are enough to justify a longer sentence, and instead chose to have Judge Cahill make the decision on his own.

...

Without aggravating factors, the judge could use his discretion to hand down a sentence as short as 10 years and eight months or as long as 15 years on the murder charges, and anywhere from three years and five months to four years and nine months for manslaughter.

However, the judge could consider a heavier sentence up to a maximum of 40 years based on the prosecution's Blakely motion. One aggravating factor the judge can consider is that there was a 9-year-old child who witnessed the murder.

...

[crickets]

3. Interesting. Thanks for that. nt