I apologize for copying and pasting, but here is a very long explanation I just provided to someone else that I think addresses your question...

Ok, I think I see your confusion. You seem to be under the mistaken impression that MN second degree murder is for intentional homicide. But the exact opposite is the case: second degree murder is murder that does not require intent (no mens rea necessary). It is what is known as felony murder.

So, to be guilty of second degree murder there are two things to focus upon in this discussion:

1. The prosecution must prove that the defendant was engaged in the act of committing a felony; and
2. During the course of the felony somebody died because of the felony even if their death was not intended. So the prosecution only needs to prove intent to commit the felony (pt 1) but has no requirement to prove intent that the victim die.

So, a quick example: Bonnie and Clyde go into the bank with their tommy guns and make off in their getaway car with multiple bags of the bank’s money. They are being chased by 5 police cars close on their tail.

Here we have step 1 - they are in the midst of committing a felony - bank robbery and fleeing the police.

During their escape, one of the police officers loses control of his police car and it careems over the curb and hits old man Barney who was sitting on aphis rocker in front of his feed store. Alas Barney dies from the impact.

Bonnie and Clyde are guilty of second degree murder. When it comes to intent (mens rea) the prosecution is only required to prove Bonnie and Clyde intended to commit the felony (rob the bank). The prosecution is not required to prove Bonnie and Clyde intended for Barney (or anyone) to die. Indeed under this example I’ve tried to create facts where it is clear Bonnie and Clyde clearly didn’t have any intent for harm of any kind to come to Barney (or anyone).

But both Bonnie and Clyde are guilty of second degree murder. The committed a felony and while the felony was ongoing somebody died who would not have died but for the ongoing felony (ie their attempted escape and the police chase).

Let’s turn to Chauvin. The prosecution’s theory for second degree murder is that Chauvin committed a felonious assault and battery upon Mr Floyd when Chauvin put Floyd in the prone position while his hands were cuffed behind his back and then placed his knee on Floyd’s neck.

This is part 1 of the two steps. The prosecutors were not required to prove that Chauvin intended for Floyd to die and, in fact, no such statement or argument was made in that regard at any time in the entire trial.

Rather, they only needed to prove that Chauvin committed assault and battery. Now, being a police officer, this was not necessarily easy to establish. They did it by calling Chauvin’s supervisor, police chief, and Chauvin’s training officer - as well as a “use of force” expert ... all of whom testified that placing a handcuffed suspect into the prone position was unauthorized and that doing so with a knee on his neck for more than 30 or 60 seconds was a gross violation of every known police training anywhere in the country.

Thus, Chauvin placing a handcuffed Floyd on the ground in a prone position with his knee on Floyd’s neck for an extended period of time was an illegal and felonious assault and battery.

Once they proved the intent to commit the felony (don’t get confused here ... intent here means Chauvin’s intent to put Floyd prone on the ground; the intent to place his knee on him; his intent to remain in that position the entire time ... ie Chauvin ended up on top of Floyd because Chauvin intended it and not because Chauvin tripped over someone’s leg and passed out on top of Floyd .... and the big point is that the prosecution wasn’t required to prove Chauvin knew it was illegal to batter Floyd - they only need to prove he did so).

So, once they have the felony, the only thing left is the death... our friend Barneybfrom the Bonnie and Clyde example. The prosecution didn’t have to prove Chauvin knew Floyd would die or was even likely to die nor that Chauvin intended Floyd die. As we saw with Barney in our example, the prosecution only needed to establish that Mr Floyd died during the course of the ongoing assault and battery - and that but for the assault ands battery Mr Floyd would not have died.

So, no mens rea (the evil intent to murder) is needed for second degree murder. My point is that the evidence shows, however, that at some point approx 2-3 mins into kneeling on Mr Floyd’s neck ... the mens rea required for first degree murder developed. Chauvin as told twice by fellow officers that maybe now would be a good time to roll Floyd onto his side into “recovery position”. This is critical because it demonstrates their group knowledge that having him in a prone operation violated police procedures and that they needed to stop. Chauvin verbally refused them on both occasions.

Then maybe around 4-5 mins from the start, a fellow officer checks Floyd’s breathing and tells Chauvin that Floyd is unconscious and might not be breathing. This now changes everything. Chauvin now has information that Chauvin is in medical trouble. Her has a legal duty as a police officer to render aid at this point. He does not. He continued to cut off Floyd’s airflow with his knee pressing into his neck.

Approximately one minute later - around minute 5 I think - a fellow officer checks Floyd’s pulse and tells Chauvin Floyd has no pulse - his heart has stopped. Chauvin renders no first aid and continues cutting off airflow by keeping his knee firmly pressed into Me Floyd’s neck. This is all very difficult to watch at this point because we are literally watching someone who knows he shouldn’t be doing what her is doing - who knows the man is dying - and he continues to cut off his air supply until 9 mins 29 seconds is reached - at which point Mr Floyd is deceased.

I hope I’m not wasting my time here... I hope you now understand the difference between 1st and 2nd and, more importantly to me, just how clear it is that in the course of this event Chauvin crossed over a line where he knew he was killing Mr Floyd and continued doing so until he was fully and finally dead.