Derek Chauvin was convicted for the murder of George Floyd in April but his sentencing is set for this month. Many are wondering what the outcome will be, especially as prosecutors hope for a harsher sentence. However, Chauvin’s lawyer Eric Nelson is working hard to have his client released on probation instead of serving any sort of jail time.
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Prosecutors said Chauvin’s actions “shocked the Nation” when they filed documents to court seeking a 30 year sentence for the murder of George Floyd. “No sentence can undo Mr. Floyd’s death, and no sentence can undo the trauma Defendant’s actions have inflicted. But the sentence the Court imposes must show that no one is above the law, and no one is below it,” prosecutors wrote in court documents. “Defendant’s sentence must hold him fully accountable for his reprehensible conduct.”
Nelson requested that the judge sentences Chauvin to time served with probation, claiming the former police officer’s actions are “best described as an error made in good faith.”
“Mr. Chauvin asks the Court to look beyond its findings, to his background, his lack of criminal history, his amenability to probation, to the unusual facts of this case, and to his being a product of a ‘broken’ system,” Nelson wrote.
Chauvin has been held in custody since he was found guilty of murder and manslaughter in April.