Derek Chauvin has been found guilty of murdering George Floyd, or — more precisely — he's been found guilty of two counts of murder and one count of manslaughter.
But how can someone be convicted of both murder and manslaughter for the same killing?
Trial judge Peter Cahill's instructions to the jury demonstrate how the system works in Minnesota.
The former police officer faced three charges relating to his decision to pin George Floyd by the neck until he died:
- Unintentional second-degree murder
- Third-degree murder
- Second-degree manslaughter
It was open to the jury to convict Chauvin of all, some or none of the above because they were instructed by Judge Cahill to consider each charge as a "separate and distinct" offence.
...Each count he has been found guilty of carries its own maximum sentence.
- Second-degree unintentional murder: 40 years
- Third-degree murder: 25 years
- Second-degree manslaughter: 10 years
But Minnesota's sentencing guidelines suggest far less as a starting point.
They list a presumptive sentence of 150 months for each of the murder counts — or 12 years and six months — if a person has no prior criminal history.
But the state is expected to argue Chauvin should face a harsher sentence than the guidelines recommend, because of aggravating factors.
The sentencing guidelines also include a presumption that multiple sentences arising from "current offences" should be served concurrently.
That means they'd be served alongside each other at the same time, instead of stacked end to end.
Regardless of the final sentence, in Minnesota, defendants typically serve two-thirds of their penalty in prison, with the rest on parole.
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