The defence had asked for probation and had unsuccessfully sought a retrial ahead of an expected appeal.
Video of Chauvin,who is white,kneeling on the neck of Floyd,a 46-year-old black man in handcuffs,for more than nine minutes on May 25,2020 caused outrage around the world and the largest protest movement seen in the United States in decades.
Floyd’s brother Terrence Floyd addressed Chauvin directly during his victim impact statement on Friday.
“What was going through your head as you had your knee on my brother’s neck?” he asked.
He told the judge he wanted the maximum sentence. “We don’t want to see no more slaps on the wrist. We’ve been through that already.”
Haunted by video
Philonise Floyd,another brother,said he was haunted by the videos of Floyd’s death,which were replayed countless times at Chauvin’s trial.
Chauvin addressed the judge,saying he could not give a full statement due to “additional legal matters”.
“But very briefly though,I do want to give my condolences to the Floyd family,” he said. “There’s going to be some other information in the future that would be of interest and I hope things will give you some peace of mind. Thank you.”
He did not elaborate.
Chauvin’s mother,Carolyn Pawlenty,told the judge she would always believe her son was innocent and that her life’s two happiest moments were giving birth to Chauvin and pinning his police badge on him when he joined the Minneapolis Police Department.
“Derek has played over and over again in his head the events of that day,” she said,her voice quavering at times. “I have seen the toll it has taken on him. I believe a lengthy sentence will not serve Derek well. When you sentence my son,you will also be sentencing me.”
Aggravating factors
In a sentencing memorandum,prosecutors from the Minnesota attorney-general’s office wrote that Chauvin’s crime “shocked the conscience of the nation”.
In a six-page ruling last month,Cahill found that prosecutors had shown there were four aggravating factors that would allow him to hand down a longer prison term than sentencing guidelines would dictate.
The judge agreed that Chauvin abused his position of trust and authority;that he treated Floyd with particular cruelty;that he committed the crime as part of a group with three other officers;and that he committed the murder in front of children.
Through his attorney Eric Nelson,Chauvin had asked in court filings that the judge to sentence him to probation,writing that the murder of Floyd was “best described as an error made in good faith”.
Chauvin was helping arrest Floyd on suspicion of using a fake $US20 bill.
Chauvin has been held at the state’s maximum security prison in Oak Park Heights since his conviction.
Loading
In Minnesota,convicted people with good behaviour spend two-thirds of their sentence in prison and the final third on supervised release.
In 2019,the former Minneapolis police officer Mohamed Noor wassentenced by a different judge to 12½ years in prison after he was found guilty of third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter for fatally shooting Australian woman Justine Damond.
The three other police officers involved in Floyd’s arrest were,like Chauvin,fired the day after. The three are due to face trial next year on charges of aiding and abetting Floyd’s murder.
Reuters
Get a note direct from our foreigncorrespondentson what’s making headlines around the world.Sign up for the weekly What in the World newsletter here.