(CNN) A Hennepin County judge has dropped a third-degree murder charge against former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin in the killing of George Floyd, but denied the defendant's motion to dismiss two other charges against him. Chauvin still faces the higher charge of second-degree unintentional murder and a second-degree manslaughter charge in Floyd's death on May 25, which sparked nationwide protests and a reckoning over race and policing this summer. The exception was the third-degree murder charge against Chauvin. CNN senior legal analyst Laura Coates explained the third-degree murder charge was "odd" to begin with, saying it "wouldn't have stuck." Walz called the ruling a "positive step in the path toward justice for George Floyd."

Source: CNN October 22, 2020 14:16 UTC