Criminal cases take up about 80 percent or so of the district court’s time in Minnesota, so it’s no surprise that people think all lawyers should know and understand criminal law. But for a civil lawyer like me, I do so little criminal work that I thought I should ask an expert criminal defense attorney, such as Joanna Wiegert, whose office is right next to the Pine Knot News, to explain what it means to be charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter, like the policeman in Minneapolis.

Here’s what she told me.

“Third-degree murder has been called the “depraved heart” murder...