MINNEAPOLIS — A successful Appeals Court ruling filed by Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison last month has brought back a previously dropped charge in Derek Chauvin’s trial, according to reports.
So as jury selection continues in the murder trial, the back and forth issue on the charge has been resolved.
“I feel bound by [the Appeals Court] and I feel it would be an abuse of discretion not to grant the motion,” Hennepin County District Court Judge Peter Cahill said.
Chauvin’s defense had failed in their attempts to block this move by prosecutors, Post Millennial reported.
This newly reinstated charge is in addition to charges of second-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in George Floyd’s death.
According to Minnesota law, murder in the third-degree is defined as: “Whoever, without intent to effect the death of any person, causes the death of another by perpetrating an act eminently dangerous to others and evincing a depraved mind, without regard for human life, is guilty of murder in the third degree and may be sentenced to imprisonment for not more than 25 years.”
In October of last year, Cahill dismissed the count of third-degree murder against Chauvin. He said it didn’t apply to the circumstances of the case. But the state, in a motion filed by Ellison, successfully appealed the ruling after it was used in the trial of former Minneapolis officer Mohamed Noor (charged and convicted with third-degree murder for killing an Australian woman in 2017).
They said there was now “clear guidance” regarding third-degree murder for the court to follow.
