State Watch

Chauvin sentencing pushed back to June 25

Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer who was convicted of murdering George Floyd, will be sentenced on June 25, one week later than previously expected.

According to the Hennepin County District Court’s website, Chauvin will be sentenced at 1:30 p.m. CDT. He was originally scheduled to be sentenced on June 16.

Spenser Bickett, a spokesperson for the court, told The Hill that the sentence was pushed back due to a scheduling conflict.

A jury found Chauvin guilty of second- and third-degree murder as well as second-degree manslaughter on April 20 for Floyd’s murder.

Video that went viral in May showed Chauvin kneeling on Floyd’s neck for about nine minutes outside a convenience store. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital.

Chauvin’s trial lasted for three weeks, and the jury reached its verdict after 10 hours of deliberation. He is awaiting sentencing at the Minnesota Correctional Facility-Oak Park Heights.

Chauvin will only be sentenced for the second-degree murder charge, which is the most serious charge against, according to The Associated Press. That charge alone carries a maximum of 40 years in prison.

Floyd’s death, along with the killings of other African Americans in police custody, sparked a wave protests over the summer, as well as a new push for police reform.

The House passed the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act in March, but it still faces an uphill battle getting through an evenly-divided Senate.

Rep. Karen Bass (D-Calif.), who sponsored the House bill, is in talks on a compromise bill with Sens. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) and Cory Booker (D-N.J.) that could pass the upper chamber.