The Minnesota Court of Appeals ruled on Friday that a lower court should reconsider whether to add a third-degree murder charge against Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer who is due to go on trial next week for the death of George Floyd.
The decision, which came just days before the jury’s choice at the Chauvin trial was scheduled to start on Monday, also raises the possibility of a delay in the trial. The unanimous decision of the appeals court means that the court of first instance can again hear arguments from Chauvin and prosecutors in the Minnesota Attorney General’s office about whether Chauvin should face the third-degree murder charge.
He already faces a more serious charge of second-degree murder as well as manslaughter. A third-degree murder charge would give prosecutors an additional way to win a conviction.
Chauvin’s lawyer, Eric J. Nelson, can appeal the decision to the Minnesota Supreme Court.
Third-degree murder was the first charge Chauvin faced after being arrested in the days following Floyd’s death on May 25. At the time, the prosecution sparked protests from activists and lawyers, who said Chauvin should face a tougher charge and that a third-degree murder charge did not fit the circumstances of Mr. Floyd’s death.
Minnesota’s third-degree murder, they noted, has long been understood as an act – “evidenced with a depraved mind” according to the statute – that is dangerous for a group of people, rather than a person. An often cited example is a suspect who randomly fires a gun at a passing train, or someone who drives a car in a crowd. In addition, drug traffickers are often prosecuted for third-degree murder in Minnesota, when one of their clients dies of an overdose.
Following this interpretation of third-degree murder, Judge Peter A. Cahill, who is presiding over Mr. Chauvin’s trial, dismissed the charge last fall and upheld the other charges.
But a recent decision by the Court of Appeals in a separate case appeared to reshape the interpretation of the third-degree murder. Defending the conviction of Mohamed Noor for third-degree murder, a former police officer who shot and killed a woman on the job, the court ruled that third-degree murder could be applied in a case where the suspect’s actions were dangerous to a single people.
Judge Cahill said he disagreed with the appeals court’s decision when prosecutors recently tried to reintroduce the third-degree murder charge, which could lead to up to 25 years in prison if convicted, and that it was not binding because the Minnesota Supreme Court still could revoke it.
An appeals court judge wrote in an 18-page ruling on Friday that Judge Cahill erred in saying that he was not required to follow the precedent of the Noor case. The three-judge appeals panel ordered the lower court to reconsider the state’s motion to add back the third-degree murder charge and said Judge Cahill could decide to hear additional arguments from Chauvin’s lawyer against the motion.
Understand the George Floyd case
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- On May 25, 2020, Minneapolis law enforcement officers arrested George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, after a convenience store clerk alleged that he used a counterfeit $ 20 bill to buy cigarettes.
- Mr. Floyd died after Derek Chauvin, one of the officers, handcuffed him and pinned him to the floor with one knee, an episode that was captured on video.
- Floyd’s death sparked a series of protests across the country against police brutality.
- Mr. Chauvin was fired from the Minneapolis police force along with three other officers. He was charged with second-degree murder and manslaughter and now faces trial, which begins on March 8.
- Here is what we know up to this point in the case and how the trial should unfold.
Chauvin’s lawyer did not immediately return an email asking for comment on the decision. Keith Ellison, Minnesota’s attorney general, said in a statement that he agreed with the court’s decision and that prosecutors “are eager to bring all the charges to the jury.”
Opening statements for Chauvin’s trial were expected to begin on March 29, after a week-long jury selection process. City officials erected security barriers around government buildings and business owners began to close store fronts. The National Guard was also sent to protect the city and contain any protests that the trial might provoke.
The death of Floyd, who ran out of breath while Chauvin pressed him against the concrete with his knee outside a convenience store, was captured on video from a passerby’s cell phone and sparked widespread protests in Minneapolis and cities across the country . The episode began when a clerk at a convenience store in South Minneapolis called 911 and said that Floyd tried to use a counterfeit $ 20 bill to buy cigarettes.
Three other officers who were seen in the video trying to arrest Floyd, two of whom were newbies, were accused of assisting and inciting second-degree murder and manslaughter and are due to go to trial in August. They were fired with Mr. Chauvin the day after Mr. Floyd’s death.
A few days after Mr. Floyd’s death, Mr. Chauvin agreed to plead guilty to third degree murder and to go to prison for more than 10 years, but the plea bargain was canceled when it was rejected by William P. Barr , who was then the United States Attorney General.
The federal government was in negotiations to sign the court agreement so that Chauvin would not face federal charges in the future. But Mr. Barr ended up rejecting the deal, in part because Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison was preparing to take over the county prosecutor’s case, and Mr. Barr wanted Mr. Ellison to decide whether to negotiate a argument or accept the case on trial.
Shaila Dewan and Matt Furber contributed reporting.