Elon Musk has joined calls for President Trump to pardon ex-Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who was convicted of murdering George Floyd in 2020. A Trump pardon would end Chauvin’s 20-year sentence on federal convictions for violating Floyd’s civil rights, but Trump does not have the power to commute Chauvin’s 22.5-year sentence on state murder charges.
Most likely wouldn’t apply unless a state trial had already started.
Why? Dropping the charges would be a court decision so it’s on record that a charge was raised and then dropped.