Four aggravations ruled by the judge in the Floyd case could increase Officer Chauvin's sentence

The order issued by the judge indicates that the policeman treated the victim with particular cruelty, he abused his position of authority and committed group crime in front of children

Photo: CHANDAN KHANNA / AFP / Getty Images

A Minnesota judge has found aggravating factors in the murder of George Floyd for Derek Chauvin , a finding that dramatically increases the probability of a longer sentence .

Chauvin, a former Minneapolis police officer, was Convicted last month of unintentional murder in the second degree, murder in the third degree and murder in the second degree for the death of George Floyd in May 2020.

Judge Peter Cahill said in an order made public on Wednesday that four aggravating factors are present if: Chauvin abused a position of trust and authority as a police officer, treated Floyd with “special cruelty”, he committed the crime as part of a group with at least three other people, and that there were children present during the commission of the crime, reported NPR.

During the trial, a 9-year-old girl who She had witnessed the incident and testified that seeing it made her feel “sad and a little angry.”

With Derek Chauvin convicted of murder, attention now focuses on his sentence and the trial of three former police comrades accused of aiding and abetting Chauvin, who is white, in the murder of George Floyd , who was an African American.

Chauvin was found guilty of all charges in his against, but in Minnesota, a person convicted of multiple crimes for a single incident generally is only sentenced for the most severe charge . In this case, that is murder in the second degree.

The maximum sentence for that charge is 40 years, but state sentencing guidelines recommend 12, 5 years in prison for an involuntary second degree murder conviction for someone with no criminal record. Prosecutors sought an upward deviation from that duration, arguing that there were multiple aggravating factors in the case.

Judge Cahill agreed with prosecutors, aside from their argument that Floyd was particularly vulnerable. Holding George Floyd in the prone position with the weight of three police officers on him for an extended period did not create a vulnerability that was exploited to cause death; it was the actual mechanism that caused the death, ”Cahill wrote.

Chauvin’s sentencing is scheduled for late June.

The three other former Minneapolis cops involved in Floyd’s death, J. Alexander Kueng, Thomas Lane, and Tou Thao, will be tried together in a trial that begins on . August, and face the charge of failing to provide medical aid to Floyd , while three of them are accused of having violated the victim’s right to be released from excessive use of force.