MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Minnesota Court of Appeals on Friday ordered a judge to reconsider adding a third-degree murder charge against a former Minneapolis police officer charged in George Floyd’s death, handing a potential victory to prosecutors.
A three-judge panel said Hennepin County District Judge Peter Cahill erred when he rejected a prosecution motion to reinstate the third-degree murder charge against Derek Chauvin. The panel said Cahill should have followed the precedent set by the appeals court last month when it affirmed the third-degree murder conviction of former officer Mohamed Noor in the 2017 shooting death of Justine Ruszczyk Damond. The unarmed Australian woman had called 911 to report a possible sexual assault.
The appeals court sent the case back to Cahill for a ruling consistent with its ruling in the Noor case.
Jury selection is scheduled to begin Monday in the trial of Chauvin, who is currently charged with second-degree murder & manslaughter.
It was not immediately clear if Friday’s ruling would force a delay in jury selection for Chauvin’s case.
A reinstated third-degree murder count could increase the prosecution’s odds of getting a murder conviction.
Floyd, who was Black, died May 25 after Chauvin, who is white, pressed his knee on Floyd’s neck while he was handcuffed & pleading that he couldn’t breathe. In the wake of his death, protests spread worldwide & forced a painful reckoning on racial justice.
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