(KNSI) – Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill sentenced ex-Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin to 22.5 years in prison on Friday for the murder of George Floyd.
“This is based on your abuse of a position of trust and authority and also the particular cruelty shown to George Floyd,” Cahill said, addressing Chauvin.
Chauvin, who did not testify in the trial, provided a brief statement prior to his sentencing.
“At this time, due to some additional legal matters at hand, I’m not able to give a full formal statement at this time,” Chauvin said. “Very briefly, though, I do want to give my condolences to the Floyd family. There’s going to be some other information in the future that would be of interest, and I hope things will give you some, some peace of mind.”
The first victim impact statement presented in court Friday was from Floyd’s young daughter, Gianna.
“If you could say anything to your daddy right now, what would it be?” a woman asks Gianna in a video presented to the court. “It would be ‘I miss you and I love you,” Gianna replies.
George Floyd’s brothers, Philonise Floyd and Terrence Floyd, and George Floyd’s nephew Brandon Williams also delivered victim impact statements.
“Every day, I have begged for justice to be served, reliving the execution of George, while others begged and pleaded for Officer Chauvin to simply just allow George to take a breath,” Philonise Floyd said. “I haven’t had a real night’s sleep because of the nightmares I constantly have, nearing my brother beg and plead for his life over and over again.”
Chauvin’s mother, Carolyn Pawlenty, also spoke to the court. She described Chauvin as a “quiet, thoughtful, nonverbal and selfless man.”
“My happiest moment is when I gave birth to you,” Pawlenty said, addressing Chauvin. “My second is when I was honored to pin your police badge on you. I remember you whispering to me, ‘Don’t stick me with it.'”
During the sentencing, Minnesota Assistant Attorney General Matthew Frank, on behalf of the prosecution, asked Cahill to consider a 30-year sentence for Chauvin due to the four aggravating factors identified in the case: abusing a position of trust and authority, treating Floyd with particular cruelty, committing a crime in the presence of children and committing a crime as part of a group with at least three other people.
In the defense’s remarks, Chauvin’s attorney Eric Nelson recognized the larger cultural impacts of this particular case, stating that over the time he has served as Chauvin’s attorney, he has received more than 5,000 emails, more than 1,000 voicemails and hundreds of letters about the case “from both sides.”
“As I believe we are all cognizant of, this case is at the epicenter of a cultural and political divide,” Nelson said. “We tried to keep a lot of that out of the courtroom during the trial and make this case about the facts. But, we recognize what has happened as a result of this case.
“There are a great number of people who will view any sentence you pronounce as overly lenient and insufficient to satisfy justice,” Nelson continued, addressing Cahill. “But there are an equal number of people who will view any sentence you pronounce as draconian or overbearing. Either way, some percentage of the public will view your sentence as a miscarriage of justice. The intensity of public interest in this case cannot be understated.”
Earlier Friday, Cahill denied Nelson’s request for a new trial for Chauvin.
In addition to his prison time, Chauvin is prohibited from possessing firearms, ammunition and explosives for the rest of his life, required to provide a DNA sample to the state and ordered to register as a predatory offender.
On April 20th, 2021, a jury found Chauvin, 45, guilty of second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter for the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25th, 2020.
During an arrest outside of Cup Foods at East 38th Street and Chicago Avenue, Chauvin pinned Floyd to the ground with his knee on Floyd’s neck. Bystander video shows Chauvin with his knee on Floyd’s neck for nine minutes and twenty-nine seconds. The three other ex-officers who were on the scene — J. Alexander Kueng, Thomas Lane and Tou Thao — have been charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder and will be tried in March 2022. All four ex-officers face federal charges for allegedly violating Floyd’s civil rights.
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