Judge dismisses 3rd-degree murder charge against Derek Chauvin, other charges remain

[Roland99]

https://www.fox35orlando.com/news/judge-dismisses-3rd-degree-murder-charge-against-derek-chauvin-other-charges-remain

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - A Hennepin County judge has dismissed the third-degree murder charge against former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, but denied the defense's motions to dismiss the other charges against him. Chauvin remains charged with second-degree murder and manslaughter in the death of George Floyd.

Judge Peter A. Cahill issued several critical rulings Thursday. He also denied the motions to dismiss the aiding and abetting charges against the other three officers charged in Floyd’s death: Tou Thao, J. Alexander Kueng and Thomas Lane.

Judge Cahill stayed the dismissal of Chauvin's third-degree murder charge for five days to allow the state to appeal the ruling.

guess this means the evidence for 2nd-degree murder is stronger?

[Roland99]

1. A little more on why the 2nd-degree MURDER charge still in place is better news

https://www.kare11.com/article/news/local/george-floyd/3rd-degree-murder-dropped-2nd-degree-remains-derek-chauvin-george-floyd/89-8e781779-84d1-4e27-be76-2ae197651130

Second-degree murder is the traditional murder charge that's been filed against Chauvin, while second-degree manslaughter is the most common charge used against officers in deadly use of force cases.

Third-degree murder is a rarely used statute in Minnesota. According to Minnesota law, murder in the third degree is committed when there isn't intent or premeditation. A typical use of the third-degree murder charge would be used against a person who fired a gun in to a crowd or drove through a crowded sidewalk.

[Jirel]

2. No, it means the fix is in.

609.195 MURDER IN THE THIRD DEGREE.
(a) 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.

“Depraved mind” means knowing how likely an action is to cause death, but doing it anyway, not *intending* to kill. A classic example might be someone shooting a bullet into a crowded theater without aiming at anyone.

This is the most severe charge that is likely to stick. It’s literally the mindset of a cop who knows this goes against training and why, and just does it anyway... for 9 minutes...

It would be hard to imagine that this charge would be the one that doesn’t stick, even if a jury gets queasy over the more serious charge. A lesser charge that could still stick is the manslaughter charge, but that’s a negligence standard, and the penalty is considerably less.

[lagomorph777]

3. Judge apparently thinks 2nd-degree is a more accurate charge than 3rd-degree.

He's on the right track. 1st-degree would actually be the most accurate charge, but 2nd is better than 3rd.

[Jirel]

4. On the contrary.

609.19 MURDER IN THE SECOND DEGREE.
Subdivision 1.Intentional murder; drive-by shootings. Whoever does either of the following is guilty of murder in the second degree and may be sentenced to imprisonment for not more than 40 years:
(1) causes the death of a human being with intent to effect the death of that person or another, but without premeditation; or
(2) causes the death of a human being while committing or attempting to commit a drive-by shooting in violation of section 609.66, subdivision 1e, under circumstances other than those described in section 609.185, paragraph (a), clause (3).
Subd. 2.Unintentional murders. Whoever does either of the following is guilty of unintentional murder in the second degree and may be sentenced to imprisonment for not more than 40 years:
(1) causes the death of a human being, without intent to effect the death of any person, while committing or attempting to commit a felony offense other than criminal sexual conduct in the first or second degree with force or violence or a drive-by shooting; or
(2) causes the death of a human being without intent to effect the death of any person, while intentionally inflicting or attempting to inflict bodily harm upon the victim, when the perpetrator is restrained under an order for protection and the victim is a person designated to receive protection under the order. As used in this clause, "order for protection" includes an order for protection issued under chapter 518B; a harassment restraining order issued under section 609.748; a court order setting conditions of pretrial release or conditions of a criminal sentence or juvenile court disposition; a restraining order issued in a marriage dissolution action; and any order issued by a court of another state or of the United States that is similar to any of these orders.

If you use Section 1, they have to probe Chauvin’s *intent* to kill. Good luck with that, with a cop’s trial.
If you use section 2, you first have to prove that kneeling on someone’s neck is a felony. Now, you have to prove a whole second crime against a cop, with a likely biased jury.

So I’ll stick by what I said earlier - the fix is in. 3rd degree would have a really good chance of sticking, while 2nd doesn’t. Now, it’s more likely to be manslaughter or nothing, which means a much lighter sentence if convicted.