Prosecutors ask for maximum sentence against former police officer Derek Chauvin for murder of George Floyd

The Prosecutor's Office requested that next June 16 The most severe sentence is imposed against the former police officer Derek Chauvin, convicted of murder on May 25, 2020 of the African American George Floyd.

According to court documents filed on Friday, prosecutors asked the presiding judge in the Minneapolis, Minnesota, court for such rigor in their decision, arguing that Floyd — pinned to the ground by several officers — was in a very vulnerable position and that Chauvin abused his authority by pressing his knee on the victim's neck for more than nine minutes.

The former agent was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter and murder in the second and third degrees, that is, of all the charges against him.

According to the rules in the state of Minnesota, Chauvin – who after the trial was locked up in a high-security regime – will receive his sentence under the most serious charge, second-degree murder, whose maximum limit is 40 years of deprivation of liberty.

However, analysts have expressed the opinion that he will not be given the harshest possible sentence. Some have pointed that the usual sentence for unintentional second-degree murder, without a criminal record, is 12 and a half years.

The most common range in Minnesota for similar cases is 10 years and eight months to 15 years in prison.

In fact, experts consulted by the American media point out that even if all the “aggravating factors” were accepted, the sentence would not reach 30 years.

However, prosecutors insisted on the particularly vulnerable circumstances in which Floyd found himself, who—while some bystanders recorded the scene—exclaimed, up to 27 times, that he could not breathe until he stopped, without Chauvin leaving his position. position.

Likewise, the accusation points to cruelty in Chauvin's actions, which not only caused physical harm, but also psychological distress to George Floyd.

In April, a 12-person jury voted unanimously to punish Chauvin on all three counts for which he was indicted, marking a historic verdict in the United States.

The ruling was read in court and broadcast live on television, while the court, in downtown Minneapolis, remained protected with barbed wire and National Guard troops, who monitored the crowd gathered to await the resolution.

Floyd's death was the trigger for massive peaceful protests and, eventually, outbreaks of violence in some cities against police abuse and systemic racism in the northern country.