Appellate, Supreme Court Decisions Could Impact Chauvin’s Trial

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(KNSI) – Prosecutors have asked the Minnesota Court of Appeals to consider reinstating a third-degree murder charge against Derek Chauvin in the death of George Floyd. Their reasoning is that another former Minneapolis police officer, Mohamed Noor, was convicted on a third degree murder charge when he fatally shot Justine Ruszczyk Damond in 2017. The appeals court recently ruled on that case, upholding that murder charge, and so prosecutors argue it is applicable in Chauvin’s case.

However, Mike Bryant, attorney and managing partner at Bradshaw & Bryant, says there’s an added level of complexity in Chauvin’s case now because the Minnesota Supreme Court is evaluating the Noor appeal decision.

“While you got the Court of Appeals deciding whether or not you can add it [the third-degree charge] in the Chauvin case, you’ve got the Supreme Court looking at whether or not the Court of Appeals was right in their decision in the Noor case,” Bryant said. “So there’s a lot of things up in the air right at the moment.”

Jury selection is scheduled to begin March 8 for Chauvin’s trial. Currently, he is charged with second-degree murder and manslaughter for Floyd’s death. While the appeals court has promised a speedy decision on whether or not to reinstate the charge, the prosecution or the defense might request more time to prepare if it is added, Bryant said. Additionally, if the Minnesota Supreme Court changes the outcome in Noor’s appeal case, that could impact the validity of a third-degree murder charge for Chauvin.

“I don’t know how they go ahead on Monday,” Bryant said.

As a high-profile case, many are anticipating what the jury’s decision will be. Bryant adds that if Chauvin is convicted on the manslaughter charge (or the third-degree murder charge, if added), that can affect the August trial of Thomas Lane, J. Kueng and Tou Thao, who are charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder and manslaughter in the Floyd case.

“If [Chauvin’s] not convicted of the second-degree, then the other defendants have the argument, and I think they would be successful in it, that if he’s not convicted of second-degree, there can’t be aiding and abetting, because you can’t have aiding and abetting with manslaughter,” Bryant said. “You need that conviction to get the other three officers.”

If Chauvin is convicted, Bryant said, his sentence would be determined by which charge the jury is convicting on, and the third-degree charge would be “something in the middle” for the jury to consider.