Derek Chauvin, guilty of the death of George Floy …

Derek Chauvin, the police officer charged with George Floyd’s death, was found guilty, as the jury decided at the Minneapolis trial.

The death of African American Floyd sparked a wave of riots and anti-racism protests in the United States.

The officer was charged with second and third degree murder and second degree murder. You could receive up to 40 years of sentence. The number of years in prison will be known at a hearing scheduled for the next six to eight weeks.

The jury, made up of seven women and five men, deliberated for two days in a Minneapolis that waited anxiously for the decision on Chauvin. The twelve members were isolated for 48 hours in a hotel.

After noon on Tuesday, it was reported that there was already a verdict, announced at 6:00 p.m. Argentina time. The trial is the first in Minnesota state history to have televised hearings.

The event that shocked the United States and led to the emergence of the Black Lives Matter movement occurred on May 25, 2020. On that day, policeman Chauvin immobilized Floyd with his knee on the neck of the 46 year old man. He had it like that for nine minutes. Floyd, as seen in videos recorded at the time, complained that he couldn’t breathe.

Constable Chauvin has been charged with second degree murder, a felony that includes up to 40 years in prison; third degree murder, with a maximum sentence of 25 years, and second degree murder, which can increase the sentence up to 10 more years. Thus, and for not having a criminal record, the penalty can go up to 12 and a half years in prison for the first two counts and up to 4 years in prison for the third.

Second degree murder contemplates two different cases in the United States: when someone is intentionally killed, but there is no premeditation, and when there is no intention, but violence is used to commit the crime.

Prosecutor Steve Schleicher claimed that Chauvin is guilty of the latter charge because “he assaulted Floyd, intentionally used unlawful force and inflicted substantial bodily harm on him,” which resulted in his death, according to evidence presented by the District Attorney of Minnesota.

For there to be third degree murder, death must occur unintentionally, without premeditation, but due to irresponsible or reckless behavior, for example, in traffic accidents in which a pedestrian is killed.

For prosecutors in the case, Chauvin acted recklessly by putting his knee on a Floyd, who claimed shortness of breath. “The accused caused Floyd’s death by an intentional act which was eminently dangerous to others and he acted with a state of mind which consisted of indifferent disregard for human life,” Schleicher said.

Second degree murder results from negligence. “The defendant negligently caused Floyd’s death because he created an unreasonable and manifestly risky risk of causing death or serious bodily harm,” the prosecutor alleged.

Hours before the decision was known, the person who spoke in favor of a conviction was Joe Biden.

The American president assured in the oval room that “the tests, in my opinion, are overwhelming” and that he “prayed” for a corresponding decision. “I can’t imagine the pressure and anxiety the Floyd family felt,” he added.