Case: What were charges against former officer in George Floyd’s death?

The 12 jurors who convicted Derek Chauvin in the death of George Floyd had three counts to consider and returned guilty verdicts on all three.

Chauvin was convicted of second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. Jurors could have convicted him of only some of the charges, or none.

The case came down to two key questions — whether Chauvin caused Floyd’s death and whether his actions were reasonable — and each charge required a different element of proof as to Chauvin’s state of mind.

Here’s an explanation of the charges:

How do the charges against Chauvin compare?

For all three charges, prosecutors had to prove that Chauvin caused Floyd’s death and that his use of force was unreasonable.

Prosecutors didn’t have to prove Chauvin’s restraint was the sole cause of Floyd’s death, but only that his conduct was a “substantial causal factor.” Chauvin is authorized to use force as a police officer, as long as that force is reasonable.

To convict on any of the counts, jurors had to find that Chauvin used a level of force that would be considered unreasonable to an objective officer in his position. Hindsight can’t be a factor.

The charges differed when it comes to Chauvin’s state of mind — with second-degree murder requiring some level of intent — not an intent to kill but that Chauvin intended to apply unlawful force to Floyd — all the way down to manslaughter, which required proof of culpable negligence.

What’s second-degree unintentional murder?

It’s also called felony murder. To prove this count, prosecutors had to show that Chauvin killed Floyd while committing or trying to commit a felony — in this case, third-degree assault. They didn’t have to prove Chauvin intended to kill Floyd, only that he intended to apply unlawful force that caused bodily harm.

Prosecutors called several medical experts who testified that Floyd died from a lack of oxygen because of the way he was restrained. A use of force expert said it was unreasonable to hold Floyd in the prone position for 9 minutes, 29 seconds, handcuffed and facedown on the pavement.

“No reasonable officer would have believed that that was an appropriate, acceptable or reasonable use of force,” prosecution witness Seth Stoughton testified.

Defense attorney Eric Nelson tried to raise doubts about Floyd’s cause of death — saying underlying heart issues and drug use were to blame. He also argued that Chauvin’s actions were reasonable, saying Floyd was big, under the influence of something, could start fighting and that nearby bystanders presented a threat.

“It’s easy to sit and judge ...