Judge Reinstates Third-Degree Murder Charge Against Derek Chauvin

A judge decided to reinstate a third-degree murder charge against Derek Chauvin yesterday. The former Minneapolis officer is accused of killing George Floyd while in police custody last May. Chavin was already facing second-degree murder and manslaughter in the case. The third-degree charge was dropped last fall by Hennepin County District Judge Peter Cahill who believed it did not fit with the case. However, his opinion has since changed. Prosecutors attempts to appeal the decision were granted by Cahill yesterday. The judge said at the time he dismissed the charge because Minnesota law required proof that someone’s conduct was “eminently dangerous to others.” He now says he’s bound by a new ruling from an unrelated case that established a new precedent for that law just days before jury selection started. This now gives jurors another option to convict Chauvin of murder. His charges of second-degree murder and manslaughter carry a maximum prison sentence of 40 years. The third-degree murder charge carries a 25 year maximum.