Officer Derek Chauvin has been releived of the third degree murder charge after being shown in video kneeling on Floyd’s neck for about eight minutes, still faces the greater charge of second-degree murder in addition to a charge of second-degree manslaughter.
Decisions was made by Hennepin County District Court Judge Peter Cahill.
According to Cahill, Derek Chauvin will only face charges for the murder of one individual, third-degree murder is applicable in cases when a defendant’s actions could have harmed others.
“The language of the third-degree murder statute explicitly requires the act causing the ‘death of another’ must be eminently dangerous ‘to others,’ ” Cahill wrote.
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, whose office is handing the case, downplayed the dismissal of the lesser charge.
“The court has sustained eight out of nine charges against the defendants in the murder of George Floyd, including the most serious charges against all four defendants,” Ellison said in a statement shortly after Cahill’s ruling.
“This means that all four defendants will stand trial for murder and manslaughter, both in the second degree. This is an important, positive step forward in the path toward justice for George Floyd, his family, our community, and Minnesota. We look forward to presenting the prosecution’s case to a jury in Hennepin County.”
University of St. Thomas in Minnesota lawyer Mark Osler, said that losing a lesser-included charge is at least a small setback for the state. Any jurors who might feel uncomfortable convicting Chauvin of second-degree murder now have one less opportunity to convict the former officer of a serious offense.
“They wouldn’t have charged it if they didn’t want it going in front of a jury,” Osler told NBC News. “You always want to give options to a jury.”
The other officers involved with the death of George Floyd are all charged with aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter.
