A state appeals court has reinstated criminal charges against a former Rensselaer County district attorney accused of lying to a grand jury in the shooting death of an unarmed DWI suspect in 2016.

A three-judge panel of the Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Third Department unanimously held Thursday that New York Attorney General Letitia James had the authority to prosecute Joel Abelove for perjury and official misconduct stemming from his handling of the investigation of the fatal shooting by a City of Troy police officer.

Abelove, a Republican, was indicted in December 2017 by then-Attorney General Eric Schneiderman arising from an investigation into the death of Edson Thevenin, an unarmed black man who was shot eight times, during an April 2016 traffic stop that resulted in a car chase.