Local criminal lawyer answers why Minnesota killer was only charged with 2nd degree murder

Although federal charges were brought against the man accused of killing a Minnesota lawmaker and her husband along with wounding a second lawmaker and his wife, the gunman does face state charges in the case.  

Vance Boelter was charged with 2^nd Degree Murder in Minnesota for the shootings.

Some have asked why he wasn’t charged with 1^st Degree Murder given the nature of the crimes.

We reached out to David Pierce, who practices criminal law in both Wisconsin and Minnesota at Johns, Flaherty & Collins. Pierced help explain why, between the two states, a suspect can be charged differently.  

Charges of 1st Degree Homicide can be brought immediately in Wisconsin.

In Minnesota, before a person can be charged with 1^st Degree murder, the state requires a grand jury to hear evidence that supports that charge, according to Pierce.

“I think the logic behind it is that if you’re going to charge somebody with the most serious crime that exists in the state, you should cross all your I’s and dot all your T’s and I think that’s what the prosecutors are doing at this point in preparing,” he said.  

It could take months to file 1st Degree murder charges in the Boelter case. Sorting the evidence collected by authorities plus the time it takes to gather a grand jury together takes time.

A recent example of that was in the case of Adam Fravel, who was ultimately convicted of 1^st Degree murder in the death of Madeline Kingsbury.

He was originally charged with 2^nd Degree murder charges. It took about four months for a grand jury to meet and determine there was enough evidence to support the 1^st Degree murder charge. Fravel was later convicted of one count of 1^st Degree murder and sentenced to life without parole.  

Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said during a news conference that she plans to file first-degree murder charges against Boelter.   

Like in the Fravel case, a conviction on state charges means a sentence of life without parole.  

Federal charges bring with it the possibility of the death penalty.  

Acting US Attorney Joseph Thompson said during a Monday news conference that it’s too early to say whether his office would seek the death penalty in the case.  

He said that the legal process would handle the federal charges first then the state ones.