Hennepin County District Judge Peter Cahill has reinstated a third-degree murder charge against the former Minneapolis police officer accused of killing George Floyd.
Cahill responded to prosecutors’ request to reinstate the prosecution after the former police officer, Derek Chauvin, failed to get the state Supreme Court to block him.
Chauvin, who knelt on Floyd’s neck for about nine minutes on May 25, is already charged with second-degree murder, with a maximum sentence of 40 years, in addition to manslaughter. The third-degree murder charge carries a maximum penalty of 25 years.
Cahill dismissed the accusation last fall because he believed the circumstances of Chauvin’s case were not adequate, but an appeal decision in an unrelated case provided new grounds for this days before the trial began. Cahill decided at the time that a third-degree murder charge under Minnesota law requires proof that someone’s conduct was “eminently dangerous to others,” not just Floyd.
An appeals court ruled on Friday that Cahill erred in rejecting a motion by the prosecution to reinstate the charge of third-degree murder against Chauvin in October and ordered him to reconsider. Friday’s ruling said Cahill should have followed the precedent set by the appeals court last month when he affirmed the third-degree murder conviction of former officer Mohamed Noor in the 2017 murder of Justine Ruszczyk Damond, an Australian woman called 911 to report a possible sexual assault happening.
“The previous opinion of this court in Noor became binding authority on the date it was presented,” said a panel of three judges in their decision on Friday. “The district court therefore erred in concluding that it was not bound by the principles of the law established in Noor and in denying the state’s motion to reinstate the third-degree murder charge based on that.”
Chauvin’s lawyer, Eric Nelson, asked the Minnesota Supreme Court to reconsider Friday’s decision. On Wednesday, the state Supreme Court denied Chauvin’s efforts to block the charge.
In a statement on Wednesday, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, whose office is suing Chauvin, said: “We believe the third-degree murder charge is fair and appropriate. We look forward to presenting it to the jury, along with charges of second-degree unintentional murder and second-degree manslaughter. “
On May 25, Floyd, a black man, was arrested after a convenience store clerk alleged that he used a counterfeit $ 20 bill to buy cigarettes. Chauvin, who is white, pressed his knee to Floyd’s neck while he was handcuffed. Chauvin remained in that position for about nine minutes, even when Floyd said he could not breathe. The incident was recorded by a viewer and widely shared on social media. Floyd’s death sparked a series of protests across the country against police brutality and racial injustice.
Five jurors were seated after just two days of viewing – three white men, one colored woman and one black man.
Opening statements are likely to begin on March 29, as scheduled.
