Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin filed a motion Wednesday through his attorney Eric Nelson asking the court to sentence him to probation.
Chauvin and Nelson filed a court motion in Minneapolis, writing to the Judge of Hennepin County Peter Cahill and Assistant Minnesota Attorney General Matthew Frank to grant the former police officer a probationary sentence.
The motion urged the court to “grant its motions and impose a probationary sentence, limiting [Chauvin’s] incarceration to time served, or in the alternative, a downward durational departure in crafting its sentence for Mr.Chauvin.”
Derek Chauvin has filed a motion asking the court sentence him to probation. https://t.co/9vGY5pYwxF
— Joyce Alene (@JoyceWhiteVance) June 2, 2021
“The trial court . . . concluded that there was a strong reason for believing that defendant would be victimized in prison and that both defendant and society would be better off if [the] defendant were sent to the workhouse for a short time, then given treatment, and then supervised on probation for the remainder of the [sentence],” the text stated.
The motion also stated that the “probationary treatment approach” would “safeguard” society’s interests and that Chauvin had nothing in his criminal history to “suggest that he would not be a good candidate for probation.” (RELATED: Chauvin Appears In Federal Court For Additional Civil Rights Charges)
“Not only has Mr. Chauvin demonstrated that he can maintain the discipline required to succeed with probation, but he has also proven he can be an asset to the community if allowed to remain in it. This is the history of a man who is particularly amenable to treatment and should be granted a mitigated dispositional departure,” the text concluded.
Chauvin was found guilty of second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter on April 20. The former police officer filed a motion through his attorney in early May asking for a new trial after he was convicted for the murder of George Floyd.
The motion came after revelations that a juror in the George Floyd trial, Brandon Mitchell, previously attended Black Lives Matter protests despite stating otherwise before being selected as a juror.