Judge OKs 3rd-degree murder charge for ex-cop in Floyd death
MINNEAPOLIS >> A judge on Thursday granted prosecutors’ request to add a third-degree murder count against a former Minneapolis police officer charged in George Floyd’s death, offering jurors an additional option for conviction and resolving an issue that might have delayed his trial for months.
Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill reinstated the charge after the former officer, Derek Chauvin, failed to get appellate courts to block it. Cahill had earlier rejected the charge as not warranted by the circumstances of Floyd’s death, but an appellate court ruling in an unrelated case established new grounds.
Chauvin already faced second-degree murder and manslaughter charges. Legal experts say the additional charge helps prosecutors by giving jurors another option to find Chauvin guilty of murder. Cahill told potential jurors after the ruling that he still expects opening statements on March 29.
The dispute over the third- degree murder charge revolved around wording in the law that references an act “eminently dangerous to others.” Cahill’s initial decision to dismiss the charge noted that Chauvin’s conduct might be construed as not dangerous to anyone but Floyd.
But prosecutors sought to revive the charge after the state’s Court of Appeals recently upheld the thirddegree murder conviction of another former Minneapolis police officer in the 2017 killing of an Australian woman. They argued that the ruling established precedent that the charge could be brought even in a case where only a single person is endangered.
Arguments over when the precedent from former officer Mohamed Noor’s case took effect went swiftly to the state’s Supreme Court, which on Wednesday said it would not consider Chauvin’s appeal. Cahill said Thursday that he accepts that precedent has been clearly established.
“I feel bound by that and I feel it would be an abuse of discretion not to grant the motion,” he said.
Floyd was declared dead on May 25 after Chauvin, who is white, pressed his knee against the Black man’s neck for about nine minutes. Floyd’s death sparked sometimes violent protests in Minneapolis and beyond, leading to a nationwide reckoning on race.
Jury selection resumed Thursday for the third day as attorneys grappled further with the challenges of seating an impartial and diverse jury in such a high-profile case. By day’s end, the jury included five men and one woman. Cahill said three are white, one is multiracial, one is Hispanic and one is Black.
The CUSD school board members Tom Lando, Eileen Robinson, Kathleen Kaiser and Caitlin Dalby are in dereliction of their duty to manage a system which educates our children. These four people are the reason that over 11,000 students in Chico are still suffering under modified educational models rather than the tried-and-true model of full-time, in-person learning. Beyond all scientific fact, logic and reason, these four seem to somehow have become emotionally invested in the lockdowns. It is now abundantly clear that keeping schools closed or even partially closed, is harming children. The facts:
1. Viral spread is minimal in schools with appropriate safety precautions (masks, sanitizer & ventilation), even in communities with a high positivity rate. Distancing is muchhyped but in truth, is not a significant factor.
2. No science supports mandating 6 feet of distance with children wearing masks!
3. COVID-19 deaths in children and adolescents are magnitudes smaller than deaths from suicide, some now driven by lockdowns.
4. Despite fear-mongering regarding variants, we have not seen evidence that variants are spreading through in-person schools.
5. Perhaps most importantly, school closure comes with long-term individual and societal costs. These kids cannot effectively learn, socialize, exercise, find new interests, eat well, or get support until schools and sports physically return to normal.
I am supporting the action to recall these four Board members who are letting our families and our community down. Let’s replace them with people who prioritize the health and education of our children.
— Arwen Funk, Chico