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After a three-week trial for the murder of George Floyd, a 48-year-old Black man, the proceedings have concluded in a conviction: 22.5 years in prison. The judge declared that Derek Chauvin's sentence was based on the "abuse of a position of trust and authority, and also the particular cruelty shown". A key issue at the heart of the trial was whether Chauvin, a former Minneapolis police officer, had violated policies on restraint when he kneeled on Floyd’s neck during the arrest.
Chief Medaria Arradondo, the head of Minneapolis police, fired Chauvin a day after the arrest, and was consequently one of the prosecution's most high-profile witnesses. In court, he said that Chauvin should have stopped applying "that level of force" the moment Floyd stopped resisting, stating: "It's not part of our training and it's certainly not part of our ethics or values." However, a defence witness, Barry Brodd, a "use-of-force expert" according to the BBC, claimed that Chauvin had been justified in his actions, and had acted ‘with objective reasonableness’ because Floyd posed an imminent threat.
George Floyd bought a pack of cigarettes at a convenience store in May 2020. The shop assistant believed he had used a counterfeit note, and contacted law enforcement after +Floyd refused to give the cigarettes back. When officers arrived, they ordered Floyd to leave his parked car immediately and then handcuffed him. A struggle ensued. Floyd, 48, died after Chauvin, then an acting police officer, knelt on his neck for nine minutes. As he was being restrained, Floyd said more than twenty times that he could not breathe, pleading for his mother, and begging "please, please, please".
Floyd's death was filmed by Darnella Frazier, who was walking with her cousin when she saw the arrest occur. According to the BBC, she began recording the incident on her phone, because she "saw a man terrified, begging for his life". When an ambulance arrived, Floyd was motionless. He was pronounced dead only an hour later.
The cause of death was incredibly central to the trial, with the prosecutor maintaining that he died from asphyxia, whilst the defence argued that Floyd’s history of drug use had resulted in death.
A specialist in pulmonary medicine, Dr. Matin Tobin, used video footage to describe what was happening to Floyd’s breathing as he lay under Chauvin’s knee. He said confidently in the trial: "a healthy person, subjected to what Mr. Floyd was subjected to, would have died." In contrast, a key witness for the defence, David Fowler (a forensic pathologist, who was chief medical examiner for the state of Maryland until his retirement in 2019) argued that the death should have been classified as "undetermined" due to the "many conflicting different potential mechanisms".
These "potential mechanisms" included Floyd's history of drug abuse and possible exposure to carbon monoxide poisoning from the police car's exhaust. However, under cross-examination, it was agreed that Floyd should have received immediate medical attention when he went into cardiac arrest, as there was still a chance to save his life.
The murder caused worldwide protests of racism and police brutality, sparking the Black Lives Matter movement in many countries.
At trial, Chauvin pleaded not guilty to the charges of second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder, and manslaughter. The jury took under a day to return a unanimous verdict, convicting him of all charges. Along with the 22-year prison sentence, Chauvin was also told to register as a predatory offender, and he was barred from owning a firearm for life.
The sentence, issued by Judge Peter Cahill, was a ten-year increase to Minnesota state’s recommended sentencing guidance for second-degree murder. Minnesota Attorney General, Keith Ellison, has claimed that Chauvin's sentence was "one of the longest a former police officer has ever received" for deadly force.
For some, however, the sentence is insufficient. Throughout the trial, Terrence Floyd, brother of George Floyd, had demanded that Chauvin be given the maximum available sentence; a sentence of 40 years. "Why? What were you thinking? What was going through your head when you had your knee on my brother's neck?" he said at the sentencing hearing, "When you knew that he posed no threat any-more, he was handcuffed, why you didn’t at least get up, why you stayed there?" Prosecutors sought a maximum sentence of 30 years: a plea reiterated by members of the Floyd family as they delivered statements in person. Floyd’s brother, Philonise, told the court: "Every day I have begged for justice to be served, reliving the execution of George, while others begged, they pleaded for officer Chauvin to simply just allow George to take a breath."
Yet, under Minnesota’s ‘good behaviour’ law, Chauvin could serve only two-thirds of the sentence in prison, with the rest under licensed release.