Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer convicted of murdering George Floyd, pled guilty on Wednesday to federal charges alleging that he violated the civil rights of both Floyd and a teenager he arrested in 2017.
It remains to be seen if the guilty plea will add time to Chauvin’s incarceration. In June, he was sentenced to 22 and half years in prison. Any new penalty will be served concurrently, so Chauvin will spend additional time behind bars only if the sentence exceeds 22 and a half years. Prosecutors have asked for a 25-year term. Judge Paul Magnuson didn’t set a date for sentencing.
Chauvin’s guilty plea allows him to avoid a lengthy trial. He had previously pleaded not guilty to the same charges.
The Washington Post reports:
Chauvin, appearing in court in an orange prison jumpsuit before U.S. District Judge Paul Magnuson, answered quietly as the judge asked him whether he understood what he was doing.
“Yes, your honor,” Chauvin said.
“You understand that there is no right to appeal to a higher court? This is the end of it?” Magnuson asked.
“Yes your honor,” Chauvin responded.
CBS News provides details on the civil rights charges brought against Chauvin:
The federal charges were brought by the Justice Department in May, several weeks after Chauvin was convicted in state court on murder and manslaughter charges in the killing that prompted worldwide protests for racial justice and police reform. The federal indictment alleged that Chauvin and three other fired officers deprived Floyd of his civil rights under color of law, meaning while acting in their capacity as police officers.
Chauvin was accused in the federal case of willfully depriving Floyd of the constitutional right to be protected from illegal search and seizure, which includes the right to be free from unreasonable force by a police officer. It says Chauvin did so by pinning Floyd to the ground with a knee on his neck as he was handcuffed and not resisting, resulting in Floyd’s death.
The Associated Press adds:
As part of the plea deal, Chauvin also pleaded guilty to violating the rights of a then-14-year-old boy during a 2017 arrest in which he held the boy 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.
Several members of Floyd’s family were present, as was the then-teenager involved in the 2017 arrest, according to a pool reporter. As they left the courtroom, Floyd’s brother Philonise said to Chauvin’s 2017 victim: “It’s a good day for justice.”
Three other officers involved in Floyd’s death are facing state charges.