Lawyers clash over expert in Chauvin murder trial
MINNEAPOLIS — Attorneys at the trial of a former Minneapolis police officer charged in George Floyd’s death moved closer to seating a jury Thursday, choosing a 10th juror just hours after clashing over how much the panel should hear of Floyd’s own actions.
The latest juror, a white woman in her 50s, is a registered nurse. She was added after reassuring that she could refrain from using her medical knowledge to add to evidence presented at Derek Chauvin’s trial.
Earlier, prosecutor Jerry Blackwell argued that a forensic psychiatrist should be allowed to testify how Floyd’s behavior as officers attempted to put him into the squad car was consistent with any reasonable person’s anxiety or panic during a traumatic event. Officers who confronted Floyd after he allegedly tried to pass a counterfeit $20 bill at a store pointed a gun at him, and he struggled and told them he had claustrophobia as they tried to force him into the car.
Prosecutors want to show that Floyd might have been unable to comply with the officers’ orders, and wasn’t actually resisting arrest — something Blackwell said he was certain that Chauvin’s attorney Eric Nelson intended to do.
“The defense is doing a full-on trial of George Floyd, who is not on trial, but that is what they’re doing,” said Blackwell.
Nelson said that if the prosecution gets to present that evidence to the jury, the defense should be able to tell the jury about Floyd’s drug arrest a year earlier, when he did not resist getting put into a squad car.
Hennepin County Judge
Peter Cahill said he’ll rule on Vinson’s testimony today, when he plans to issue a broader ruling on the admissibility of Floyd’s 2019 arrest and on defense motions for delaying or moving the trial.
Progress in jury selection comes after Cahill dismissed two jurors who were seated before the city announced it had reached a settlement with Floyd’s family for $27 million. Cahill questioned them to see if the massive settlement affected their ability to be fair and impartial.
He has set March 29 for opening statements.