<p>MINNEAPOLIS &mdash; Prosecutors fought hard to add a third-degree murder charge against former police Officer Derek Chauvin in the death of George Floyd, but a conviction on that charge alone could set up a problematic scenario for them. </p>
<p>That’s because another fired Minneapolis officer found guilty of third-degree murder has a pending appeal before the state Supreme Court — and if his conviction is overturned, it could mean a Chauvin conviction would fall, too.</p>
<p>Jury <a href="https://apnews.com/article/derek-chauvin-trial-live-updates-04-20-2021-955a78df9a7a51835ad63afb8ce9b5c1">deliberations in the Chauvin case entered their second day Tuesday.</a></p>
<p>Chauvin is <a href="https://apnews.com/article/derek-chauvin-trial-charges-716fa235ecf6212f0ee4993110d959df">charged with second- and third-degree murder</a> and second-degree manslaughter. The white former officer pinned the Black man to the pavement last May for up to 9 minutes, 29 seconds. The jury can convict Chauvin of some, none or all three of the charges.</p>
<p>The risk is that if the jury acquits him of second-degree murder but agrees he is guilty of third-degree murder, a murder conviction might not ultimately stick.</p>
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<a href="https://apnews.com/article/derek-chauvin-trial-murder-charge-explained-5e7c935f560219caee61fcc0bef0a23d">The interpretation of Minnesota’s third-degree murder statute</a> is being challenged in the case of former Minneapolis Officer Mohamed Noor. He was convicted in the 2017 shooting death of Justine Ruszczyk Damond, a dual citizen of Australia and the U.S. who was killed after she called 911 to report a potential sexual assault behind her home.</p>
<p>At issue is a short phrase in the statute: that the defendant’s conduct must be found to be “eminently dangerous to others."</p>
<p>The original charges against Chauvin included third-degree murder. But Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill threw out that count in October, citing the word “others” — plural — in that phrase. Cahill said there was no evidence Chauvin’s actions endangered anyone beyond Floyd.</p>
<p>But then a Minnesota appeals court in <a href="https://apnews.com/article/us-news-police-minnesota-minneapolis-shootings-743e099422da272f164b308cb10f0d42">February rejected</a> similar legal reasoning in Noor’s case, ruling that a third-degree murder conviction can be sustained even if the action that caused a death was directed at just one person. Cahill then <a href="https://apnews.com/article/trials-death-of-george-floyd-racial-injustice-minneapolis-48d84aa0ba2a66ebba91a7bef633ce89">reinstated the charge</a> against Chauvin. </p>
<p>However, Noor has taken his case to the Minnesota Supreme Court, which will hear arguments in June.</p>
<p>If the jury in the Chauvin case were to come back with a conviction on third-degree murder only, Chauvin “obviously could never be tried again on the other charges" because of his protection against double jeopardy, said Mike Brandt, a local defense attorney who has been closely following Chauvin’s trial.</p>
<p>And if the Minnesota Supreme Court rules in Noor’s favor, that could help Chauvin get his own conviction thrown out, and then Chauvin “would basically walk," according to Brandt.</p>
<p>Ted Sampsell-Jones, a professor at the Mitchell Hamline School of Law in St. Paul, Minnesota, agreed it would be a “nightmare scenario” if Chauvin were acquitted of second-degree murder and convicted of third-degree, and the Supreme Court then reversed Noor’s conviction.</p>
<p>“If the Minnesota Supreme Court were to reverse Noor’s third-degree murder conviction, that would almost certainly invalidate Chauvin’s as well," Sampsell-Jones said. "But — that is quite unlikely all around.”</p>
<p>A conviction on one or both of the murder counts but an acquittal on the manslaughter charge would be “weird," he said. </p>
<p>Sentencing guidelines call for four years in prison on the manslaughter charge versus 12 1/2 years on each of the murder counts.</p>
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<p>Find AP’s full coverage of the death of George Floyd: <a href="https://apnews.com/hub/death-of-george-floyd">https://apnews.com/hub/death-of-george-floyd</a></p>