Prosecutors Asking for Changes to Chauvin’s Sentencing Memo

Minnesota prosecutors are asking the judge at Derek Chauvin’s trial to make changes to his final sentencing memo about the former Minneapolis cop.

They want Judge Peter Cahill to rewrite notes on the experiences of four minors who witnessed George Floyd’s murder. Cahill’s sentencing memo concluded they did not experience trauma. He wrote that the minors were seen smiling and sometimes laughing at the scene and could have left whenever they wanted.

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said discounting the trauma suffered by the young girls could cause even further harm. The prosecutors presented a letter to the court from a forensic psychiatrist who said laughter can be a stress response. They made it clear they’re not asking Cahill to change the 22-and-a-half year sentence Chauvin was given for George Floyd’s murder.