BREAKING: The judge in the George Floyd case has decided *not* to dismiss charges against the former MPD officers, with the exception of 3rd degree murder against Derek Chauvin. 2nd Degree murder and manslaughter still stand.

Judge Peter Cahill issued a 107 page order this morning. I will include the highlights here. But to reiterate, Cahill denied the officers' requests to dismiss the charges -- except for 3rd degree murder which he did dismiss.

For more context on the charges Chauvin faces -- 2nd degree murder is the traditional intentional murder charge used, and 2nd-degree manslaughter is the most common charge used against officers in deadly use of force. 3rd degree murder is a rarely-used, strange statute in MN...

3rd degree murder is often described as someone who would "Fire a gun at a moving train" or drive a car into a crowd of people on a sidewalk."
Judge Cahill took issue with this part:

Since Officer Mohamed Noor was convicted by the jury of 3rd degree murder, it's not surprising prosecutors tried for it, but among the Twin Cities legal community, many believe Noor has a good chance of overturning the Murder3 part of his conviction.

Judge Cahill found that "Viewed in the light most favorable to the State, the evidence here “would lead a person
of ordinary care and prudence to hold an honest and strong suspicion” that Chauvin committed 2nd degree unintentional murder."

Cahill added that, regarding evidence the defense has given to the contrary, "At most, these arguments raise fact questions for the jury at trial. Accordingly, Chauvin’s motion to dismiss this charge for lack of probable cause is denied."

Concerning the other officers - Cahill goes through each one separately. But this passage sums up his ruling for their Aiding and Abetting charges:

We are waiting for rulings on trial venue and whether the trials will be joined or held separately. For now, the trial is scheduled for March in Hennepin County. I'll add updates to this thread as they happen.

In reviewing a motion to dismiss charges prior to a trial, it was Judge Cahill's job to "view the evidence in the light most favorable to the state." He stresses this throughout the ruling. He's not deciding whether the former officers are innocent or guilty -- that's the jury.

Concerning George Floyd's cause of death, Cahill wrote the defense can cross-examine the ME and contest the evidence and so forth at the trial. But those matters "do not provide a basis upon which this Court may dismiss the charge against Chauvin at this preliminary stage"

The most important thing to the prosecution is that this case is going to the jury. The judge didn't take it out of their hands. Mixing 2nd Degree murder and 3rd degree murder in a trial, in my experience, gets a little confusing.

For example in the Noor trial the argument for 2nd degree murder consisted of Noor knowing he was shooting a woman at his window and knowing he was shooting to kill. 3rd degree murder was more of a "shooting into the night" or at a shadow argument.

Some people might be upset about the judge dismissing the 3rd degree murder charge. But for this case in particular, the state might have a more focused argument with the charges remaining.

Here is a statement from AG Ellison, calling the ruling an "important, positive step forward in the path toward justice"

Someone pointed out to me that I referred to Murder 2 as "intentional homicide" -- but the reader is correct, the state is charging it as unintentional 2nd degree murder. Here are the elements that need to be proved for a guilty verdict:

The third element still requires intent (of bodily harm or to fear bodily harm or death) -- and Judge Cahill ruled that the evidence "more than suffices" to send it to the jury for consideration at trial.