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The former United States secretary of housing and urban development discusses racial division, systemic racism claims in the wake of Chauvin trial verdict.
Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer convicted in the murder of George Floyd, is expected to be held at a maximum-security prison in Minnesota for the next eight weeks as he awaits sentencing.
The Minnesota Department of Corrections said Tuesday night that Chauvin was at the state's maximum-security prison in Oak Park Heights, due to an arrangement with the county sheriff and the Department of Corrections. That's the same prison where Chauvin was moved to for security reasons after his arrest.
Chauvin was booked into MCF-Oak Park Heights on Tuesday at 4:55 p.m., Fox News has learned. A new booking photo was released Wednesday. He is on "administrative segregation status" and is being housed in the prison's administrative control unit, which "has the state’s highest level of security, and is the appropriate placement for his safety," Minnesota Department of Corrections spokeswoman Sarah Fitzgerald told Fox News in an email.
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The last death of an incarcerated person by another incarcerated person at Oak Park Heights occurred in 2013, Fitzgerald said. The death did not occur in the administrative control unit. The last suicide at Oak Park Heights was also in 2013.
Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill said sentencing will happen in eight weeks – though no specific date has been set. The Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office will be responsible for transporting Chauvin between the Department of Corrections facility and the courthouse.
The latest booking photo released by the Minnesota Department of Corrections a day after Derek Chauvin was convicted in the murder and manslaughter of George Floyd.
In an order issued Tuesday after the verdicts were announced, Cahill said Chauvin will be "committed to the commissioner of Corrections pending completion of the presentence investigation, the report, and sentencing in this matter." The Hennepin County Sheriff shall transport Chauvin "to the commissioner as soon as possible from the date of this order," the court documents say. The Hennepin County Sheriff shall transport Chauvin for appearance before the court "on a date to be determined," Cahill’s order adds.
A total of 349 adult offenders are on-site at Oak Park Heights as of Wednesday, according to the latest Daily Inmate Report. Most of the inmates held at the facility are serving sentences for homicide, assault and sexual criminal misconduct, among other offenses.
According to the Minnesota Department of Corrections, Oak Park Heights is a Level 5 maximum-security prison that opened in 1982 and can house up to 473 inmates. It has a restricted housing unit – the administrative control unit (ACU) – that is operated at the highest level of security. The ACU often houses individuals for disciplinary reasons but may also house some who are on administrative segregation, the department says. This type of restricted housing is not disciplinary in nature and sometimes is used "during pending investigations or when continued presence in the general population could pose a particular safety concern."
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Twelve jurors found Chauvin guilty of second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter, ultimately deciding that Chauvin caused Floyd's death and that his actions were not that of a reasonable officer. Prosecutors didn’t have to prove Chauvin’s restraint was the sole cause of Floyd’s death, only that his conduct was a "substantial causal factor."
Cahill read out the verdicts in court at the Hennepin County Government Center Tuesday afternoon. Chauvin, who has been free on bail for the last several months, was handcuffed immediately after the verdicts were read and taken into custody. A sheriff's deputy escorted him out of the courtroom through an interior door.
Each count carries a different maximum sentence: 40 years for second-degree unintentional murder, 25 years for third-degree murder, and 10 years for second-degree manslaughter. But Minnesota has sentencing guidelines that call for far less.
Under the guidelines, a person with no criminal history would receive a presumptive sentence of 12 1/2 years for each murder charge and a presumptive sentence of four years for manslaughter. The guidelines allow for a range slightly above and below those presumptive sentences, which is up to a judge's discretion.
But in this case, prosecutors are seeking a sentence that goes above the guideline range, called an "upward departure." The prosecution cited several aggravating factors, including that Floyd was particularly vulnerable, that Chauvin was a uniformed officer acting in a position of authority, and that his crime was witnessed by multiple children – including a 9-year-old girl who testified that watching the restraint made her "sad and kind of mad."
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After the verdicts, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said his office would be seeking a "fair" and "just" sentence.
"We believe there are aggravating factors and the sentence should exceed the sentencing guidelines," he said at a press conference Tuesday without providing specifics.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
