The-Ave.US

George Floyd’s killer appears in court for sentencing tomorrow, Friday, June 24, 2021, and “at least” 12 years in prison, The Hill reports (see story here).

Under Minnesota sentencing guidelines, the maximum possible sentence is 40 years, “but because Chauvin has no previous criminal record, the presumptive sentence is 12.5 years,” The Hill said.

Mohamed Noor, a trigger-happy cop who shot and killed an Australian woman while responding to her 911 call for help, got 12½ years. But Noor was convicted of 3rd degree murder and 2nd degree manslaughter; Chauvin was convicted of 2nd degree murder in addition to the two other charges, so he might get more. In his case, the sentencing range is 10 years 8 months to 15 years. But prosecutors can ask for more, based on aggravating factors.

Prosecutors have alleged five aggravating factors against Chauvin, and the judge accepted four of them, including one related to abusing policy authority. A legal expert told The Hill there’s “a good chance” that Chauvin will get somewhere between 15 and 30 years in prison.

The high profile nature of the case shouldn’t affect Chauvin’s sentence, and I’m confident it won’t. Whatever the judge decides, he’ll explain his reasoning, and appellate courts likely will accept any sentence based on sound legal reasoning and legal precedents.

As for me, I think the fact this was no ordinary street murder, but was committed by a police officer abusing the state’s authority, warrants extra prison time. That’s because murder and abuse of authority are two separate crimes; and as a deterrent to extreme abuses of the awesome power of the state.

In a way it’s probably true that Chauvin did more to promote civil rights than anyone has in many years; but that wasn’t his intention, and he deserves zero credit for the “black lives matter” movement. That credit belongs to the millions of Americans who took to the streets to protest his heartless, cruel, and criminal actions.

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