The prosecutor overreached. Charging the cop with first degree murder and armed criminal action didn’t give the judge the chance to convict him on lesser charges if he had felt they were warranted. It was murder one or nothing, and the judge decided that the evidence didn’t support that.
Stockley claimed self-defense and the judge agreed which renders any lesser included charges like second degree murder or manslaughter unchargeable.
The judge gave him a pass on all lesser charges. Read the last two paragraphs. The judge says there wasn’t a need to consider lesser charges since the state did not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant was not acting in self defense. The prosector didn’t over reach because he had nothing to grasp at.