Derek Chauvin, a former US police officer, was jailed for life to 22.5 years in prison for the death of George Floyd.

Minneapolis (US):Derek Chauvin, a former Minneapolis police officer, was sentenced to 22 1/2 years in jail for the murder of George Floyd, whose dying gasps under Chauvin’s knee sparked the country’s worst protest against racial injustice in decades.

The punishment, which fell short of the 30 years sought by prosecutors, came after Chauvin broke his almost year-long silence in court to express his sympathies to the Floyd family and express his hope that further information may someday provide them with “some piece of mind.”

Chauvin, 45, might be released after serving two-thirds of his sentence, or nearly 15 years, if he maintains good behaviour.

Judge Peter Cahill went above and beyond the 12 1/2-year sentence prescribed by state guidelines, citing “your abuse of a position of trust and authority, as well as the particular cruelty” shown to Floyd.

Chauvin was immediately escorted back to jail. He showed little emotion when the judge read the sentence, as he had done with the previous verdicts in April. His gaze darted around the courtroom, his COVID-19 mask concealing much of his face.
On May 25, 2020, the fired white officer was convicted of second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter for pressing his knee against Floyd’s neck for up to 9 1/2 minutes while the 46-year-old Black man gasped for air and went limp.

Bystander video of Floyd’s arrest on suspicion of passing a counterfeit USD 20 bill at a corner store sparked worldwide protests and sparked scattered violence in Minneapolis and elsewhere.

Chauvin, who did not testify at his trial, removed his mask and turned toward the Floyd family on Friday, speaking briefly due to “some additional legal matters at hand” — an apparent reference to the federal civil rights trial he still faces.

“But, in a nutshell, I’d like to express my condolences to the Floyd family. There will be more information available in the future that will be of interest. And I hope that things will bring you some peace of mind “He stated this without further elaboration.

Defense attorney Eric Nelson called Floyd’s death “tragic” and said Chauvin’s “brain is littered with what-ifs” from that day in requesting that Chauvin be released from probation: “What if I simply refused to go in that day? What would have happened if things had gone differently? What if I didn’t answer the phone? What if what if what if what if what if what if what if what if what if”

Floyd’s family members testified, expressing their grief over his death. They demanded the maximum penalty.

“We do not want any more slaps on the wrist. We’ve already gone through that, “Terrence Floyd, one of Floyd’s brothers, was overcome with emotion.

“Our family is forever broken,” said Floyd’s nephew Brandon Williams. In a video played in court, Floyd’s 7-year-old daughter, Gianna, said that if she could say anything to her father right now, it would be “I miss you and I love you.”

Prosecutor Matthew Frank asked the judge to go above and beyond the guidelines and sentence Chauvin to 30 years in prison, claiming that the officer “tortured” Floyd.

“This isn’t a quick gunshot or a punch to the face. This is 912 minutes of cruelty to a helpless man begging for his life “Frank stated.

Carolyn Pawlenty, Chauvin’s mother, appeared in court to plead for her son’s mercy, claiming that his reputation has been unfairly reduced to that of “an aggressive, heartless, and uncaring person” and a racist.

“I can assure you that is not the case,” she told the judge. “I want this court to know that none of this is true, and that my son is a good man.”

“Derek, I want you to know that I have always believed in your innocence, and I will never waver from that,” she added. “I’ll be here for you when you get home,” she promised.

The concrete barricades, razor wire, and National Guard patrols that were present at the courthouse during Chauvin’s three-week trial in the spring were removed on Friday, indicating that tensions have subsided since the verdict in April.

Prior to the sentencing, the judge agreed with prosecutors that there were aggravating circumstances that could justify a harsher sentence than the recommended 12 1/2 years, including Chauvin’s treatment of Floyd with particular cruelty, abuse of his position of authority as a police officer, and doing it in front of children.

The judge denied Chauvin’s request for a new trial prior to sentencing. The defence argued that the intense media coverage tainted the jury pool and that the trial should have been held somewhere other than Minneapolis.

A defence request for a hearing into possible juror misconduct was also denied by the judge. Nelson had accused a juror of being untruthful during jury selection because he had not mentioned his participation in a march last summer to honour the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. Prosecutors argued that the juror had been candid about his beliefs.

Since 2005, 11 non-federal law officers, including Chauvin, have been convicted of murder for on-duty deaths, according to Philip Stinson, a criminal justice professor at Bowling Green State University. The penalties imposed on the nine people sentenced before Chauvin ranged from six years and nine months to life in prison, with the median being 15 years.

The Floyd family and Black America witnessed something rare with Chauvin’s sentencing: in the few cases where officers accused of brutality or other misconduct against Black people have gone to trial, the list of acquittals and mistrials is longer than the list of sentencings after conviction.

Acquittals have recently included officers charged in the deaths of Philando Castile in suburban Minneapolis and Terence Crutcher in Tulsa, Oklahoma. In Cincinnati, two mistrials were declared in the case of Samuel Dubose’s death.

“That’s why the world has been watching this trial, because it’s a rare occurrence,” said civil rights attorney Benjamin Taylor, who has represented victims of police brutality in Arizona. “Everyone understands that this does not happen every day.” Chauvin has been held at the state’s maximum-security prison in Oak Park Heights since his conviction, where he has been kept in a cell by himself for his own protection, with his meals brought to him. The three other officers involved in Floyd’s arrest are scheduled to stand trial in March on state charges of murder and manslaughter.They will also face federal civil rights charges alongside Floyd. There is no set date for that trial.