FILE - This combination of June 3, 2020, file photos, provided by the Hennepin County, Minn.m, Sheriff's Office, shows, from left, Derek Chauvin, J. Alexander Kueng, Thomas Lane and Tou Thao. A Minnesota judge on Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2020, has dismissed a third-degree murder charge filed against Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer who pressed his knee against George Floyd's neck, but the more serious second-degree murder charge remains. The judge also denied defense requests to dismiss the aiding and abetting counts against the three other former officers, Lane, Kueng and Thao.

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A Minnesota judge has dismissed a third-degree murder charge filed against the former Minneapolis police officer who pressed his knee against George Floyd's neck, but the more serious second-degree murder charge remains.

Hennepin County District Judge Peter Cahill's ruling was dated Wednesday and made public Thursday. Cahill said there was enough probable cause for the second-degree murder charge and manslaughter charge against Derek Chauvin to proceed to trial. Cahill also denied defense requests to dismiss the aiding and abetting counts against three other former officers, Thomas Lane, J. Kueng and Tou Thao.

"In this court's view, with one exception, the State has met its burden of showing probable cause that warrants proceeding to trial against each of these Defendants on each of the criminal charges the State has filed against them," Cahill wrote. He said it will be up to a jury to decide whether the officers are guilty.