Hennepin County District Judge Peter Cahill has ruled that Derek Chauvin is eligible for a sentence enhancement for up to 40 years in prison. 

He used the terms, “Particular cruelty,” and “Abused a position of trust and authority,” as a cop to justify taking a potential sentence for 2nd degree murder from about 12 years.

Good.  This psychopath is a menace to society:

Derek Chauvin abused his authority as a police officer when he pressed his knee into George Floyd’s neck until he went limp and treated him with “particular cruelty,” qualifying him for a longer prison sentence, a judge said.

In a ruling made public Wednesday, Hennepin County District Judge Peter A. Cahill found state prosecutors had proved beyond a reasonable doubt four of five aggravating factors in Floyd’s killing that they argued should result in a tougher prison sentence for the former Minneapolis police officer.

Chauvin was convicted April 20 of second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in Floyd’s May 25 killing. Floyd died when Chauvin placed his knees on Floyd’s neck and back for more than nine minutes while he was handcuffed, facedown, on a Minneapolis street. Chauvin, who is being held in solitary confinement at a Minnesota prison, is scheduled to be sentenced June 25.

Although a jury found Chauvin guilty on all three charges he was facing, Minnesota law dictates he will face sentencing only on the most serious charge: second-degree murder. State sentencing guidelines on that charge recommend 11 to 12 years in prison for someone with no criminal history.

But prosecutors last fall and again last month asked Cahill for what is known as an “upward sentencing departure,” citing several factors they argued should open Chauvin up to a maximum of 40 years in prison.

In his ruling, Cahill agreed with prosecutors that Chauvin had “abused a position of trust and authority” as a police officer and that Chauvin “knew from his training and experience” that his restraint was putting Floyd in “danger of positional asphyxia.”

The scary part is that without a video that had gone viral, Derek Chauvin would still be a cop, and he would still be brutalizing people.