George Floyd: Derek Chauvin Qualifies For Longer Sentence – Judge

Hennepin County District Judge, Peter Cahill has said the convicted killer of the 46-year-old George Floyd could face up to 30 years in prison as were four of five aggravating factors in the murder case qualify him for longer sentence.
Derek Chauvin had was convicted of two counts of murder and one count of manslaughter last month for kneeling on the neck and back of George Floyd, handcuffed and lying prone on the street, for 9 minutes and 29 seconds.
In a ruling on Wednesday, Washington Post reported that Peter Cahill said Derek Chauvin abused his authority as a police officer when he pressed his knee into George Floyd’s neck until he went limp and treated him with particular cruelty. “The slow death of George Floyd occurring over approximately six minutes of his positional asphyxia was particularly cruel in that Mr. Floyd was begging for his life and obviously terrified by the knowledge that he was likely to die but during which the defendant objectively remained indifferent to Mr. Floyd’s pleas”, Cahill reportedly wrote.
In addition to the findings that (1) Chauvin abused a position of trust and authority, and (2) he treated Floyd with particular cruelty., Cahill also ruled that (3) children were present during the offense, and (4) Chauvin committed the crime as a group with the active participation of at least three other people.
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On that fourth point, Judge Cahill wrote that three former officers, Tou Thao, Thomas Lane, and Alexander Kueng, were actively involved in the incident, but he made no finding as to their intent or knowledge. They have each pleaded not guilty to charges of aiding and abetting. However, Cahill rejected the aggravating factor that Floyd was “particularly vulnerable,” noting Floyd had initially resisted arrest. He also ruled that restraining Floyd in the prone position did not create a vulnerability but was instead the actual mechanism of his death.
A federal grand jury indicted all four former officers in connection with Floyd’s death, alleging they violated his constitutional rights, according to court documents filed in federal court in Minnesota. Chauvin also was charged in a separate indictment related to an incident in which he allegedly used unreasonable force on a Minneapolis 14-year-old in September 2017, the Justice Department reportedly said in a statement.TRENDING VIDEO OF THE WEEK: 2 Chibok Girls Graduate From University
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