Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison is advocating for a harsher prison sentence for Derek Chauvin, the former Minnesota police officer recently convicted for the murder of George Floyd, the Washington Post reported.
Court documents filed on Friday reveal Ellison’s insistence on a harsher punishment emphasizing that the evidence from the trial of Chauvin’s actions against Floyd support “aggravating factors” that justify a harsher sentence.
“The facts proven beyond a reasonable doubt at trial demonstrate that five aggravating factors support an upward sentencing departure,” Ellison wrote.
“Mr. Floyd was treated with particular cruelty,” Ellison wrote in the 26-page briefing to Hennepin County District Court. “Defendant continued to maintain his position atop Mr. Floyd even as Mr. Floyd cried out that he was in pain, even as Mr. Floyd exclaimed 27 times that he could not breathe, and even as Mr. Floyd said that Defendant’s actions were killing him.”
Informational update on the Derek Chauvin trial: We have now filed our sentencing brief, arguing that his sentence should be increased for 5 different aggravating factors. The brief is here: https://t.co/RYab7FUhcH pic.twitter.com/bwalJVKHin
— Neal Katyal (@neal_katyal) May 1, 2021
Judge Peter Cahill would have to agree to increase the sentencing for Chauvin. Chauvin’s lawyer, Eric J. Nelson, rejected Ellison’s claims of legitimate aggravating factors, saying it was not proven during the trial, the Post reported.
“Mr. Chauvin was authorized, under Minnesota law, to use reasonable force” as part of what the attorney described as the arrest of “an actively-resisting criminal suspect,” Nelson wrote in his own court filing on Friday.
The U.S. Justice Department announced they are planning to indict Chauvin on civil rights charges, according to the Star Tribune.
Chauvin will be sentenced on June 25 and is facing up to 40 years in prison for second-degree unintentional murder, CNN reported.