Chauvin to face third-degree murder charge in Floyd case

The judge overseeing the trial of Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer charged with killing George Floyd, has allowed prosecutors to add an additional charge of third-degree murder against Chauvin, who is already facing a more serious count of second-degree murder.

The decision Thursday most likely ended a sequence of legal wrangling and cleared the way for the trial to move forward. Jury selection is well underway, with five of 12 jurors already seated, and opening arguments are scheduled to begin March 29.

The jurors will now have an additional murder charge on which they could convict, even if they decide the evidence does not support second-degree murder.

Third-degree murder was the first charge Chauvin faced last year when he was fired by the Minneapolis Police Department and arrested after Floyd’s death on May 25, and prosecutors had sought to reinstate it.

Within days of Chauvin’s arrest, he agreed to plead guilty to third-degree murder, but William Barr, then the U.S. attorney general, stepped in to reject the agreement, which had also included an assurance that Chauvin would not face federal civil rights charges.

Judge Peter A. Cahill, who is overseeing the trial, later dismissed that charge, but he upheld the more severe charge of second-degree murder. If convicted of seconddegree murder, Chauvin would likely face 11-15 years in prison, though the maximum penalty is up to 40 years. The maximum penalty for the added third-degree murder charge is 25 years in prison. Chauvin also faces a lesser charge of second-degree manslaughter.

The Minnesota Court of Appeals last week ordered Cahill to reconsider whether to add the third-degree murder charge.

Cahill granted the prosecutors’ motion to add the charge after brief arguments Thursday morning.