Not true, here. 3rd Degree Murder in Minnesota is "depraved mind" murder - basically, even without intent to kill, you knowingly did something that (a) did cause the death and (b) shows a depraved indifference to the value of human life. Obviously (a) is untrue. For (b), essentially, he only needs to have intentionally placed the knee and have that be some depraved shit, which it's also not
They also have manslaughter, which only requires some "reckless" action which happened to directly cause death. That's their mostly likely charge to succeed, and carries the lowest sentence. Still, I believe their case is incredibly weak because they have to prove that the knee on the neck actually caused death, beyond a reasonable doubt.
3rd Degree ("depraved mind") Murder was invented because it was difficult to prosecute people who deliberately did actions that only risked death. Imagine, for instance, loading two live rounds and four blanks at random into a revolver and then firing once at a helpless person. That situation fails the "knowing" requirement for traditional murder charges, but if it resulted in death, is obviously worse than typical manslaughter. So they invented 3rd Degree Murder!
Not true, here. 3rd Degree Murder in Minnesota is "depraved mind" murder - basically, even without intent to kill, you knowingly did something that (a) did cause the death and (b) shows a depraved indifference to the value of human life. Obviously (a) is untrue. For (b), essentially, he only needs to have intentionally placed the knee and have that be some depraved shit, which it's also not
Fair enough. I didn't know that was a law and now I do 😊
I wonder what the rational was for having a 3rd murder category rather than considering it manslaughter like it is here in Utah.
They also have manslaughter, which only requires some "reckless" action which happened to directly cause death. That's their mostly likely charge to succeed, and carries the lowest sentence. Still, I believe their case is incredibly weak because they have to prove that the knee on the neck actually caused death, beyond a reasonable doubt.
3rd Degree ("depraved mind") Murder was invented because it was difficult to prosecute people who deliberately did actions that only risked death. Imagine, for instance, loading two live rounds and four blanks at random into a revolver and then firing once at a helpless person. That situation fails the "knowing" requirement for traditional murder charges, but if it resulted in death, is obviously worse than typical manslaughter. So they invented 3rd Degree Murder!
Okay that actually makes some sense. Thanks