Here’s an excerpt from The Washington Post:
Chauvin’s ‘particular cruelty’ to George Floyd should mean harsher sentence, Minnesota attorney general argues
By Timothy Bella May 1, 2021 at 9:30 a.m. PDT
The Minnesota attorney general is seeking a harsher prison sentence for former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin due to the “particular cruelty” he showed in the murder of George Floyd last year, according to court documents filed Friday.
Keith Ellison (D) argued in a legal briefing that Chauvin, who was convicted on murder and manslaughter charges last week, deserved a more severe sentence after the officer knelt on Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes and showed a lack of remorse for the 46-year-old Black man as he yelled out for his mother while detained.
“Mr. Floyd was treated with particular cruelty,” Ellison wrote in the 26-page briefing to Hennepin County District Court. He added, “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.”….
….Eric J. Nelson, Chauvin’s attorney, is opposing a tougher sentence for his client, saying prosecutors failed to prove the aggravating factors during the trial that would trigger additional prison time. Nelson argued Friday in a separate wrote in his 10-page court filing that “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.”
The attorney general’s push for a tougher sentence for Chauvin comes months before three other former Minneapolis police officers — Tou Thao, Thomas Lane and J. Alexander Kueng — are scheduled to head to court in August. The three men face charges of aiding and abetting second-degree murder as well as second-degree manslaughter….
The Star Tribune reported Thursday that federal prosecutors are also planning to indict Chauvin and the three other former officers on civil rights charges….
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