UPDATE (June 16, 11:25 a.m. E.T.): On Monday, the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office in Minnesota said it will seek first-degree murder charges against Vance Boelter, noting that it is common practice for the office to initially charge second-degree murder to secure a warrant as quickly as possible, as it did in this case.
If you look at the state charges against Vance Boelter in Minnesota, you might wonder why he’s “only” charged with second-degree murder, which doesn’t require premeditation, while the known and alleged facts would seem to satisfy first-degree murder charges in the apparent assassination and attempted assassination of Democratic politicians.
A possible answer is that this is a function of Minnesota law as opposed to a judgment by prosecutors that they can’t prove first-degree charges for the alleged murders of state Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, and the alleged attempted murders of state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette.
Under the state’s procedural rules, crimes punishable by life imprisonment must be prosecuted by indictment, which is secured through a grand jury. First-degree murder carries a life sentence, while second-degree murder carries a sentence of up to 40 years. The second-degree murder charges against Boelter came in a complaint, which doesn’t require going through a grand jury.
So, just because Boelter wasn’t immediately charged with first-degree murder doesn’t mean that state prosecutors won’t bring those charges in the future. And that’s on top of possible federal charges against Boelter, too.
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