Judge Reinstates 3rd-Degree Murder Charge for Ex-officer in George Floyd Death

Defense attorney Eric Nelson (L) and defendant former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin listen as Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill presides over jury selection, at the Hennepin County Courthouse in Minneapolis, Minn. on March 10, 2021. Court TV/Pool via AP

MINNEAPOLIS—A judge on Thursday granted prosecutors’ request to add a third-degree murder charge against a former Minneapolis police officer charged in George Floyd’s death.

Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill reinstated the charge after the former officer, Derek Chauvin, failed to get appellate courts to block it. Cahill had earlier rejected the charge as not warranted by the circumstances of Floyd’s death, but an appellate court ruling in an unrelated case established new grounds.