Prosecutors are trying to add third-degree murder charges against four former Minneapolis police officers in the death of George Floyd.
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison filed the motion on Thursday.
Former officer Derek Chauvin was initially charged with second degree unintentional murder, third degree murder and wrongful death for his role in Floyd’s death in May.
But Chauvin’s lawyer managed to get the third-degree murder charge dismissed for lack of probable cause, because it could only be applied “in situations where the defendant’s actions … were not specifically directed at that particular person whose death occurred “, the states motion.
Ellison, however, argued that the state Court of Appeals recently upheld a third-degree murder charge against former officer Mohamed Noor in a case involving the shooting death of Justine Ruszczyk Damond.
The appeals court ruled in Noor’s case that “third-degree murder can occur even if the act causing the death endangers only one person,” according to the motion.
“As the decision in Noor is precedent and now provides this court with clear guidance on the elements of third-degree murder, the State respectfully requests that the court reinstate the third-degree murder charge,” says the motion.
Ellison is calling for the third-degree murder to be reinstated for Chauvin or for his complaint to be corrected to include the prosecution.
The attorney general also wants the prosecution to be included in the amended complaints against the other three officers: Tou Thao, Thomas Lane and J. Alexander Kueng. They are currently accused of helping and encouraging murder, as well as helping and encouraging wrongful death.
Lawyers for all four police officers did not immediately return a request for comment on Friday.
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Floyd, a black man, died in police custody on May 25. The video showed Chauvin kneeling on his neck for almost nine minutes while Floyd repeatedly said, “I can’t breathe”.
The death sparked protests in Minneapolis and across the country, and led to a national race score.
Chauvin and the other officers were all fired from the Minneapolis Police Department in May. Chauvin is due to be tried in March and the others will be tried together in August.
