Chauvin in court via video from prison on federal charges of violating George Floyd’s civil rights
Derek Chauvin appears in court via video-link from prison for hearing on federal charges of violating George Floyd’s civil rights just weeks after being convicted of his murder
- Derek Chauvin, 45, was back in court on Tuesday and appeared via video link
- Chauvin is currently in Minnesota’s maximum-security prison, Oak Park Heights
- On Tuesday he faced federal charges of depriving George Floyd of civil rights
- Floyd, killed May 25, 2020, had the right to be free from unreasonable seizure
- Floyd also had the right to be free from unreasonable force by a police officer
- If Chauvin is convicted of federal charges, he will serve them consecutively
- He is due to be sentenced on state murder charges on June 25
Derek Chauvin was back in court on Tuesday to face federal charges of violating George Floyd’s civil rights by pinning him to the pavement with his knee.
Chauvin, 45, appeared via videoconference from Minnesota’s maximum-security prison in Oak Park Heights, where he’s being held as he awaits sentencing following his April conviction on murder and manslaughter charges.
Chauvin was asked by the judge whether he understood that he could legally contest his being held in detention on the federal charges, while the trial continued.
‘In light of my current circumstances, I believe that would be a moot point,’ Chauvin replied.
The judge said the next step was Chauvin being formally arraigned, and said a date would be issued soon.
The federal charges allege Chauvin violated Floyd’s rights as he restrained him face-down while he was handcuffed, not resisting and gasping for air.
Derek Chauvin, seen during closing arguments in his trial for the murder of George Floyd, on Tuesday made his initial appearance to face federal charges of violating Floyd’s civil right to be free from unreasonable seizure and from unreasonable force by a police officer
Chauvin, center, is taken into custody on April 21 as his attorney, Eric Nelson, left, looks on, after the verdicts were read at Chauvin’s trial for the 2020 death of George Floyd. Those charges were filed by the state. He is now facing federal charges of violating his civil rights. If convicted, he will serve any prison sentence concurrently to his murder sentence, which will be handed down on June 25
Three other former officers – J. Kueng, Thomas Lane and Tou Thao – face similar federal charges.
Chauvin is also charged in a separate indictment alleging he violated the rights of a 14-year-old boy in 2017.
Floyd, 46, repeatedly said he couldn’t breathe as Chauvin pinned him to the ground.
Kueng and Lane helped restrain Floyd – Kueng knelt on Floyd´s back and Lane held down Floyd´s legs.
Thao held back bystanders and kept them from intervening during the nine and a half-minute restraint that was captured on bystander video and led to worldwide protests and calls for change in policing.
While all four officers are charged broadly with depriving Floyd of his rights while acting under government authority, the counts that name Chauvin allege he violated Floyd’s right to be free from unreasonable seizure and from unreasonable force by a police officer.
They also allege he and the others deprived Floyd of liberty without due process when they failed to provide him with medical care.
Derek Chauvin knelt on George Floyd’s neck for nine and a half minutes on May 25, 2020; Floyd fell unconscious and died. His death sparked protests across the United States and around the world
Chauvin’s attorney, Eric Nelson, argued during Chauvin’s murder trial that the officer acted reasonably and Floyd died because of underlying health issues and drug use. He has filed a request for a new trial.
To bring federal charges in deaths involving police, prosecutors must believe an officer acted under the ‘color of law,’ or government authority, and willfully deprived someone’s constitutional rights.
That’s a high legal standard.
An accident, bad judgment or simple negligence on the officer’s part is not enough to support federal charges; prosecutors have to prove the officers knew what they were doing was wrong in that moment but did it anyway.
The federal case sends a strong message about the Justice Department’s priorities.
When President Joe Biden was elected, he promised he would work to end disparities in the criminal justice system.
Federal prosecutors have also brought hate crimes charges in the death of 25-year-old Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia, and the Justice Department has launched sweeping investigations into the police departments in Minneapolis and Louisville, Kentucky.
The other indictment against Chauvin alleges he deprived a then-14-year-old boy, who is black, of his right to be free of unreasonable force when he held the teen by the throat, hit him in the head with a flashlight and held his knee on the boy’s neck and upper back while he was prone, handcuffed and not resisting.
According to a police report from that 2017 encounter, Chauvin wrote that the teen resisted arrest and after the teen, whom he described as six-foot-two and about 240 pounds, was handcuffed, Chauvin ‘used body weight to pin’ him to the floor.
The boy was bleeding from the ear and needed two stitches.
That encounter was one of several mentioned in state court filings that prosecutors said showed Chauvin had used neck or head and upper body restraints seven times previously dating back to 2014.
In four of those instances, state prosecutors said he went too far and held the restraints ‘beyond the point when such force was needed under the circumstances.’
George Floyd, 46, originally from Houston, had moved to Minneapolis for work. His death a year ago sparked soul-searching and revulsion across the nation
Chauvin was convicted in April on state charges of second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in Floyd’s death.
Experts say he will likely face no more than 30 years in prison when he is sentenced June 25.
If convicted in the federal case, any federal sentence would be served at the same time as his state sentence.
The other former officers face charges of aiding and abetting both second-degree murder and manslaughter.
They are free on bond and face state trial in March.
