(MINNEAPOLIS) — A Minnesota appeals court on Thursday announced it is considering prosecutors’ request to file an additional charge against three former Minneapolis police officers accused in George Floyd’s death.

Former officers Thomas Lane, J. Alexander Kueng and Tou Thao are accused of aiding Derek Chauvin in the fatal struggle.  The former officers are also charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder and aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter.

All three former officers have pleaded not guilty and are set to stand trial in March 2022.

However, the office of Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison petitioned the Court of Appeals to reverse a lower court ruling preventing a charge of third-degree aiding and abetting murder against the three officers.

The cause of the petition, as stated by prosecutor Neal Katyal, is that Hennepin County District Court Judge Peter Cahill erred when he dismissed a third-degree murder charge against Chauvin a month before his trial.

Cahill later reinstated the charge after the appellate court asked him to reconsider based on a 2017 case of former Minneapolis Police Officer Mohamed Noor on second-degree manslaughter and third-degree murder charges.

Chauvin was convicted on all three charges, second-degree unintentional murder, second-degree manslaughter and third-degree murder.  Sentencing is set for June.

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