Former Minneapolis Police officer Derek Chauvin was found guilty of unintentional second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in the killing of George Floyd in a verdict read Tuesday. With the conviction, Chauvin faces up to 40 years in prison.
Millions of people around the world watched Floyd’s life leave his body as Chauvin knelt on his neck for more than nine minutes last Memorial Day. The killing sparked protests in Minnesota and around the world.
Chauvin’s trial — the first in Minnesota history to be broadcast live and in full — is also believed to be the first time an on-duty white Minnesota police officer has been convicted of the murder of a Black person.
The jury came to its decision after a three-week trial that saw several witnesses from the Minneapolis Police Department, including Chief Medaria Arradondo, testify against the former officer, and the verdict came just one day after closing arguments were presented. Chauvin was handcuffed after the verdict was announced and will await sentencing in custody.
“I would not call today’s verdict justice however, because justice implies true restoration. But it is accountability, which is the first step towards justice,” Attorney General Keith Ellison said during a press conference following the verdict.
Sentencing in eight weeks
In the course of the trial, the prosecution, led by Ellison’s office, built a case that argued Chauvin’s actions caused Floyd’s death. The defense argued that Chauvin acted reasonably and that other factors may have contributed to Floyd’s death, including underlying health conditions, drugs and environmental factors.
Jurors heard from 44 witnesses, including bystanders, paramedics, police officers, medical experts and people close to Floyd who reconstructed what happened in South Minneapolis last summer and testified on the potential effects of the force Chauvin used as he kneeled on Floyd.
The testimony and other evidence presented was enough to convince all members of the 12-member jury that Chauvin was guilty beyond a reasonable doubt on all three counts: Second-degree murder, meaning guilty of causing Floyd’s death in committing third-degree assault causing serious bodily harm; third-degree murder, or guilty of actions “eminently dangerous to others and evincing a depraved mind, without regard for human life”; and second-degree manslaughter, meaning guilty of negligence that created an unreasonable risk of death or great bodily harm.
Despite the conviction on the third-degree murder charge, whether or not it applies to Chauvin’s case is something of an open question, pending a Minnesota Supreme Court decision in the case of Mohamed Noor, the former Minneapolis Police officer convicted of killing Justine Damond in 2017. At issue in the Noor case is whether third-degree murder can apply under Minnesota law in situations where just one person’s life is endangered, versus many. Noor, a Black man, is believed to be the first officer ever convicted in an on-duty shooting death.
If the state’s high court rules in Noor’s favor, Chauvin is likely to have grounds for an appeal on this count.
Chauvin was masked, making it hard to read his expression, as Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill read the verdict just after 4 p.m. on Tuesday. Though Chauvin was convicted on multiple counts, he will only be sentenced on the most serious: second-degree unintentional murder. That charge carries a maximum sentence of 40 years. While it’s up to the jury to decide whether someone is guilty or not guilty, sentencing is up to the judge.
Under Minnesota’s sentencing guidelines, crimes have their own prescribed sentences based on severity and a person’s criminal history. The prosecution is seeking a stiffer penalty — called an aggravated sentence — than is recommended in the guidelines for Chauvin based on factors in the case.
Certain factors, including a crime committed in front of minors and abuse of governmental authority — both potentially at play in Chauvin’s case — can be grounds for an aggravated sentence. Judge Peter Cahill has the authority to decide whether Chauvin gets an aggravated sentence based on whether or not aggravating factors are present.
Cahill announced that sentencing would take place in eight weeks. Chauvin has the right to appeal the verdicts, a process that could take years.
George Floyd’s brother Philonise told reporters the last year had been “a long journey” and he hoped to finally get some sleep.
He called for people to do more to end police killings, saying Daunte Wright, the 20-year-old killed by former Brooklyn Center officer Kim Potter earlier in April, “should still be here.”
Philonise Floyd said his brother’s killing reminded him of the murder of Emmett Till, a 14-year old Black boy lynched in Mississippi in 1955. But his brother’s murder was captured on video for the world to see.
In wake of his brother’s killing he has been getting messages of support from people all over the world. “They’re all saying the same thing: We won’t be able to breathe until you’re able to breathe. Today we are able to breathe again.”
Walker Orenstein contributed to this report.
There’s a photo over at WaPo of Chauvin being led out of court today in handcuffs; man, those have to sting, it’s almost as if he doesn’t like wearing them.
I was just hoping something would stick, but they got him on every count. Well done.
Pat- how does the third degree conviction make any sense?
I think of this verdict as the least terrible outcome. Justice has been done and Chauvin deserves a lengthy prison sentence, but it r4emains to be seen if anything will have changed.
Define lengthy. I believe that unless there is an upward departure from the sentencing guidelines, Chauvin will be sentenced to 12 to 13 years.
The presumptive guidelines sentence is 150 months. He deserves more, and probably will get more as I’m sure Judge Cahill will depart upwards.
No, it isn’t enough.
For one, it’s a warning shot that cops can be held accountable. Though for driving real change, the better news is the DOJ investigation of MPD. That is long overdue.
I’m not sure the third count remains relevant in terms of appeals. The second degree murder count is the highest, and the other two counts essentially drop away, so arguing about a count that no longer relevant might be moot. He’ll be sentenced on the second degree murder count alone.
This was the best possible outcome under the circumstances, we haven’t seen THAT in a long time.
Chauvin was obviously a sadistic monster. The question is whether police work caused his moral perversion or whether he was a sadist who was attracted to police work. The fact that such a sadist could become some kind of “trainer” is also an immense problem, no matter how many high-ranking coppers testified against him in 2021.
It’s interesting to watch the system’s initial efforts to combat unjust racialized policing, absent any real reform legislation from our hapless elected legislatures (and complicit “conservative” majority on the Supreme Court.) Historians will surely look to the Ramsey County attorney’s decision to charge the trigger-happy, incompetent cop in the Philando Castille killing in 2016 as an important inflection point, despite that jury’s absurd decision to acquit. That trial altered the status quo in the system, at least in MN. That is how it appears, anyway.
Not sure it is applicable to start screaming about the Republicans here. Haven’t the Democrats controlled the City of Minneapolis for the last 50 years? Place the blame where it belongs.
The Republicans abdicated any interest in governing Minneapolis at least 40 years ago, so the tired old trope about how long the Democrats have been in control is pointless.
Mr. Weir, all Democrats have done is proven that Republican law and order mentalities fail no matter who implements them.
The problem with Republicans is they equate “law and order” with “cops can do no wrong.” It’s almost like they want the police to enforce systemic racism in the name of “law and order” to keep the brown people down.
Let’s not forget all the Republican legislators who gladly enabled the Minneapolis Police Federation in blocking reforms. The party of no loves to stick it to Minneapolis any chance it can.
You guys are hilarious, pointing the finger at absent Republicans. The Democrats have had unilateral control of the City of Minneapolis for Decades. This is a Minneapolis Police Department Issue. Why is this a Republican mentality or a Republican issue at all? The power to change is entirely in the hands of the Democrats, they have failed to implement anything substantial in reforms, well other than their stellar ‘Defund the Police’ movement. I suppose this is somehow Trump’s fault too?? I am waiting for some inner finger pointing, or at least a factual statement.
Because the head of the police union in Minneapolis, until recently, was a noted Republican (by self admission, no less). THAT is where the majority of power rests in any potential police reform, not the city. Please, by all means, explain how that is a non factual statement. I do understand that it provides quite the rhetorical conundrum for those of you on the right, trying to balance your disdain for organized labor of any kind, with the need to deify law enforcement at all cost. It would be amusing to see the conservative mental gymnastics around explaining to officers that you don’t think they deserve the right to collectively bargain their contracts, nor receive any of the other protections union membership offers while attempting to convince them that you still really support their cause.
Umm, Last time I checked the Police Union does not run the MPD. It is run by the Mayor and City Council.
Umm, you’re aware how contracts work, yes?
Though if your suggestion is that the Council (as the mayor has no influence whatsoever) should simply unilaterally ignore collectively bargained contracts with the police union, it WOULD make the problem of replacing the current force far easier.
Democrats control the MPD? Man, this simplistic Republican partisanship is just so facile. You have a weak mayor who can’t even fire a police officer, a city council that is bound by the labor contract, non-partisan police chiefs, and a force that is represented by a union and members who openly and reliably endorse Republicans. On top of that, you have decades of Republican law and order policy that’s no different than any other city in the country… and you’re telling us this is all about Democrats controlling MPLS? Well, on the bright side, this republican intellectual incoherence is finally collapsing the Party, better late than never.
Well the whole system has been controlled by the Democratic Party for Decades. Anybody who can’t see that the inability of the system to police their own, has led to this situation, is truly delusional. Blaming phantom republican ideals for this is a total joke. Keep blaming, for whatever good it is doing. If it makes you feel better, so be it.
You have no idea what my political ideals are. Why does everything come down to blaming the Republicans?? About absolutely everything. Either Trump or Gazelka caused every woe to mankind. Brilliant, I tell you Brilliant!!!
Dude, police are out control all over the country, this is not a MPLS even local phenomena, we’re just dealing with local manifestations of a decades long nationwide crises. We can talk about Rockefeller’s New York or Amadou Diallos death at the hands of Giuliani’s Street Crime Unit if you want, but politicizing racism isn’t any kind of solution.
The only way this story has a happy ending is to realize we are at the very beginning of a long, long trek. It is very difficult to look at the current dynamics of police vs. people of color and conclude that nothing needs to be done. It might be that we the people need to drag the Republicans along on this journey, and if need be, we will.
It would be great if Republicans joined the real world and talked with Democrats about how they ALL, collectively, can help bring this positive change about. If the MN senate can’t get on board, this small but significant victory means nothing. If you stand in the way of justice you will see more violence, more curfew-breaking demonstrations, more damaged store fronts. None of us want that. Time to be grownups.