Associate School of Law Professor Rachel Moran spoke with KSTP-TV and The Associated Press on ex-Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin's sentencing for the murder of George Floyd.
From the KSTP-TV story: “I think it’s significant Derek Chauvin chose not to apologize, and it’s particularly significant in the context of a guilty plea,” said Rachel Moran, an associate professor at the University of St. Thomas School of Law. “When you’ve already pled guilty, you’ve already admitted to the offense, so you don’t have a lot left to worry about legally. That typically is your time — if you’re going to apologize, that’s your chance to do it.”
“He’ll be serving the two sentences effectively at the same time,” said Moran, who explained the federal sentence will still add to the time he spends in prison. “Derek Chauvin was sentenced to 22½ years in state prison, but in Minnesota, you only serve two-thirds of that time in prison. The rest is on supervised release. In federal court, he just got a 21-year sentence but you serve 85% of that time in prison.”
“The judge hasn’t set a sentencing date so we really don’t know [when it will happen],” said Moran. “It might seem like it’s dragging on — and I agree — but federal sentencing does tend to be quite slow, so it’s actually not abnormal.”
