SCSU Law Professor Expects Derek Chauvin To Get 25 Years

(KNSI) – There are many reactions to the guilty verdict handed down by a jury against former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin for killing Geroge Floyd.

St. Cloud Area Attorney Mike Bryant talked with KNSI’s Dan “The Ox” Ochsner.

“A lot of people are showing a lot of emotion. And clearly a lot of people are taking some time to take a breath. There’s still a lot more things, there’s still a sentencing to come and that will be eight weeks from now.”

Chauvin was convicted of second-degree murder, third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter on Tuesday.

Bryant says sentencing guidelines call for 12-years in prison, and prosecutors will be asking for more time while the defense will argue for less time.

He says there will be a pre-sentence investigation followed by sentencing.

After that, Chauvin’s attorney could file an appeal, but Bryant doesn’t think that’s likely because Chauvin was convicted on all counts.

“With all three come in the way they did is probably cleaner than if it had just been third degree or if it had just been manslaughter, but with them come with all three that I think it saves some of those appealable issues that you would of had if just one of them, particularly third degree.”

Some of the issues that could get argued on appeal include if the $27 million civil suit biased the jury, if Congresswoman Maxine Waters’s statements could be considered jury tampering, or arguing the jury should have been sequestered for the entire trial.

St. Cloud State University Law Professor John Baker says he doubts there would be a successful appeal, but it all depends.

“We don’t know what effect this had on the jury until we hear from the jury. And the judge won’t release certain names. We’ll have to see if any of the jurors voluntarily come forward and speak. So, we’ll see if some of them come forward. But I don’t think that there’s much of anything. Really, that can be successful on appeal.”

Baker told KNSI News that he expects Chauvin to get a stiffer sentence.

“So there’ll be asking for an upward departure in all three, all three charges. So I think I’m expecting about 25 years in prison that he will probably going to be looking at.”

He says aggravating factors such as abuse of power and the crime being done in front of children will lead to more than the 12-year guidelines.

Baker says he expected the jury to convict on all three counts, and there wasn’t much Chauvin’s attorney, Eric Nelson, could do about it.

“I expected at least a guilty verdict on a couple of the charges. And now we’ve we’ve seen that he’s been found guilty of all three charges. So I am not at all surprised. I think there was very good Laureen on both sides. But Eric Nelson was defending the indefensible.”

He says as soon as the jury came back after less than 10-hours of debate, he knew it was a guilty verdict.

“In the legal world in the litigation world, the theory is if the jury comes back, quick, it’s a guilty. If they take longer, it’s either a hung jury or not guilty.”

Chauvin killed Floyd on May 25th after restraining him with a knee across his neck for nearly 9 1/2 minutes while Floyd said he couldn’t breathe and begged for help.

Video of the incident was seen around the world and sparked protests, riots, and civil unrest.

Three other officers who responded with Chauvin will go to trial in August on aiding and abetting charges.

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