WEST MICHIGAN — Legal Experts from West Michigan joined Fox 17 to weigh in on Derek Chauvin being sentenced to 22 years and six months for the murder of George Floyd.
RELATED: Derek Chauvin sentenced to 22 years and 6 months in murder of George Floyd
Ven Johnson
Attorney Ven Johnson said the length of time Chauvin will serve was determined partly on what's called a presumptive sentence.
"What that means is, barring aggravating circumstances in your situation like this where somebody is convicted of a second-degree homicide, they would get 150 months, which of course is 12.5 years," Johnson said. "What the judge explained in this case is because he found what they consider aggravating circumstances -- that is because of cruelty, the fact that this was done out in public and children were able to see it, and all these other guidelines if you will that are specific to Minnesota law -- that there were aggravating circumstances."
Because of that, the judge gave Chauvin another 10 years on top of the presumptive sentence, adding up to 270 months.
Johnson also discussed how public opinion may have affected the sentencing.
"There's obviously a great deal of pressure coming from communities of color, which we know have certainly felt the brunt of police misconduct and brutality over the years," he said. "As a judge, you certainly live in this world so you take things into consideration, but when it comes to a sentence like this, you're supposed to apply the facts of the case to the law that precedes it."
The judge gave a 22-page opinion to go with his decision.
Chris Becker
Kent County Prosecutor Chris Becker said that this case wasn't difficult to prosecute and cited the biggest challenge for attorneys being the public nature of the case.
"Whether everyody is looking at it or no one is looking, I think as the prosecutor, you got to present the facts of the case and treat it the same," Becker said. "Public opinion really shouldn't weigh in, you should be doing what is right and what is just."
Anthony Flores
Anthony Flores, Professor of Law at Western Michigan University's Thomas M. Cooley Law School, said that he thought that Chauvin's 22.5 year sentence could have been almost doubled based on the circumstances.
"The prosecutor had requested 30 years and they could have gone as high as 40," Flores said. "...I just read the memo of the court, he used two aggrevating factors to go from a 12 and a half (year) sentence to a 22 and a half (year) sentence...I still, my personal opinion, think that's a light sentence than what the prosecutors asked for by 8 and half years, so I think it will still be deemed problematic."
Sarissa Montague
In a live interview with Fox 17, attorney Sarissa Montague said that it was appropriate for Chauvin to make a statment, but she thought he could have worded it a little better.
"You know, you have to understand that even if it's someone that did something that we all find to be reprehensible, frankly, he's still a person and I'm sure he still has feelings and emotions about what he did," Montague said. "I do think it was appropriate for him to make a statement, truthfully I wouldn't have wanted him to make that statement. The first part was great, the second part, I don't know what he meant, I don't know if any of us know what it meant."
