On Thursday, Hennepin County Judge Peter A. Cahill dismissed a third-degree murder charge against former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin. Chauvin is the man who helped brutalize George Floyd, kneeling on his neck while Floyd lay prone and handcuffed on a street, pleading for his life, for over eight minutes.
According to The Hill, the dismissal of the charge came after lawyers for all four officers charged in Floyd’s death—Chauvin, J. Alexander Kueng, Thomas Lane, and Tou Thao—moved to dismiss all charges in the case. Chauvin still faces a second-degree murder charge and manslaughter charge. Judge Cahill is also yet to decide on whether or not all four officers will be tried together or separately.
After the ruling, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison told reporters: “The court has sustained eight out of nine charges against the defendants in the murder of George Floyd, including the most serious charges against all four defendants. This means that all four defendants will stand trial for murder and manslaughter, both in the second degree. This is an important, positive step forward in the path toward justice for George Floyd, his family, our community, and Minnesota. We look forward to presenting the prosecution’s case to a jury in Hennepin County.”
The trial of all the former officers is set for March of 2021.
Separately, Chauvin and his wife are also facing nine other felony counts for unpaid taxes.