A court of appeals decided on Friday that the judge presiding over former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin’s trial must reconsider tacking on a third-degree murder charge, which was dropped in October.
Prosecutors initially added the count to Chauvin’s charges after he was seen on video kneeling on George Floyd’s neck for nearly nine minutes in late May. Floyd lost consciousness and was later pronounced dead at the hospital. On Oct. 22, Hennepin County District Judge Peter Cahill sided with Chauvin’s defense team and dropped the offense, but he retained the second-degree murder and manslaughter charges.
The Minnesota Court of Appeals ruled on Friday that the judge must hear any additional arguments from county attorneys in addition to Chauvin’s defense team on reinstating the third-degree murder change and that his determination “must be consistent with this opinion.” The former Minneapolis policeman has the opportunity to appeal the verdict to the state Supreme Court, which may delay the trial.
Third-degree murder in the state of Minnesota carries a maximum penalty of 25 years and involves “perpetrating an act eminently dangerous to others and evincing a depraved mind, without regard for human life.”
The ruling follows Monday court deliberations in which Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison argued that Cahill “abused his discretion” by removing the charge. Appellate Judge Michelle Larkin vowed to “issue an expedited decision” ahead of Chauvin’s trial, which is set to commence next week.
Legal experts have posited that the addition of a new charge so close to the court date may bring a delay at the request of Eric Nelson, the Chauvin’s defense attorney, as they would likely need more time to prepare a new defense.
“If Eric Nelson is handed — one week before trial — a new charge he has to deal with, that’s pretty difficult,” Mitchell Hamline School of Law Emeritus Professor Joseph Daly told the Star Tribune. “You have to rethink almost your entire approach. You have to rethink your theory of the case. It’s like a chess match.”
Minneapolis has begun to take precautions to prepare for possible unrest following the outcome of the trial after the city saw violence, arson, and looting in the wake of Floyd’s death. From now until the end of Chauvin’s court appearance, swaths of the city’s downtown will be closed to traffic and strictly limited for pedestrians.
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Three other officers involved in Floyd’s arrest, J. Alexander Kueng, Thomas Lane, and Tou Thao, who were fired from the police force and have been charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder and manslaughter, are set to be tried in August. Lane was said to have held Floyd’s legs, Kueng allegedly held down his back, and Thao appeared on video warding off unruly bystanders.
