Derek Chauvin's guilty plea in federal court may spare him from a life in prison, a legal expert has told The Sun.
In June, the former Minneapolis police officer was sentenced to 22 and a half years for the murder of George Floyd.
Chauvin changed his plea to guilty in the federal civil rights case against him on Wednesday, December 15.
The federal case against him also includes a separate incident from 2017, when he did nearly the same thing to a teenager, but the victim in that case survived.
By pleading guilty, Chauvin admitted to killing Floyd for the first time when he knelt on his neck while unarmed Floyd was cuffed and not resisting.
As part of the plea agreement, Chauvin faces a sentence of between 20 and 25 years in prison.
US District Judge Paul Magnuson has ordered a presentence investigation, and must still formally accept the guilty plea. Magnuson will then sentence Chauvin at a date that's yet to be scheduled.
With the guilty plea, Chauvin avoids the possibility of a life sentence, Independent reports.
The plea agreement says it's expected that the federal and state sentences would be served at the same time - not one after the other.
Chauvin's request to have a public defender represent him in his bid to appeal his murder conviction was denied on Wednesday, October 6.
Per NBC News, the Minnesota Supreme Court deemed the Minneapolis police officer ineligible for the request and the state's high court confirmed that he is yet to establish that he is entitled to a public defender.
The justices came to this decision after reviewing data about Chauvin's debts and assets and also took into account the Office of the Minnesota Appellate Public Defender's previous finding that Chauvin was ineligible, Chief Justice Lorie Gildea wrote.
Chauvin is, however, able to seek out the service of a public defender in the future if he proves not to be capable of covering his legal costs on his own, the Supreme Court said.
He filed court documents in September, stating his intention to appeal his conviction and sentence on 14 grounds. One of the grounds is that his trial should have been re-located from Hennepin County and the jurors should have been sequestered.
Chauvin also filed an affidavit stating that he does not have an attorney in the appeals process and has no income - with the exception of nominal prison wages.
The Minnesota Police and Peace Officers Association's legal defense fund paid for his previous court case.