Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill Thursday dismissed a third-degree murder charge against Minneapolis officer Derek Chauvin for the killing of George Floyd.

The Minnesota judge denied the motion to dismiss the second-degree murder and murder counts against him and three other officers for aiding and abetting. The defense advanced the theory that Chauvin’s act of pinning his knee against Floyd’s neck was not the sole cause of death and instead alleged that Floyd’s fentanyl drug use was the most likely cause. Judge Cahill rejected this theory and found that the drug use was not a superseding cause because “the independent action must actually intervene to break the causal chain, must occur ‘after the defendant’s acts,’ and must be the ‘sole cause’ of death.”

The court ultimately found probable cause and that Chauvin “grossly deviated from the standard of care a reasonable officer would observe, and consciously disregarded the risk of death to Floyd.” In addition to Chauvin, the court also denied dismissals for the three other police officers involved, Tou Thao, Thomas Kiernan Lane, and J. Alexander Keung for aiding and abetting in Chauvin’s alleged criminal acts.

All four officers, including Chauvin, will now face trial in March.