Miami’s 50th annual auto show has been postponed one more time
Third time’s a charm? The 2021 Miami International Auto Show has been postponed once again, this time to October, the South Florida Automobile Dealers Association said Tuesday.
Originally slated for February, the 2021 show had first been postponed to May amid the pandemic. The 2020 show had been scheduled to be skipped prior to the pandemic to conform to new auto-show dates in Detroit.
This year will mark the show’s 50th anniversary.
“The Miami International Auto Show 2021 remains focused on providing a safe environment for exhibitors and attendees,” said association President Richard A. Baker in a statement. “The availability of a COVID-19 vaccine gives us added
optimism that our October show will be well received.”
Show information can be found at https://www. miamiautoshows.com/.
The judge overseeing the first criminal trial related to George Floyd’s death on Wednesday dismissed two jurors already seated in the case after they told the court they had seen headlines about the city’s $27 million civil settlement with Floyd’s family and weren’t sure they could be impartial in the case of Derek Chauvin, one of the former Minneapolis police officers charged in his killing.
Hennepin County District Court Judge Peter Cahill recalled seven of the nine jurors who had already been seated and questioned them via Zoom on Wednesday as he weighs requests from Chauvin’s attorney to delay the case and reconsider a change-of-venue motion because of publicity related to the settlement. Cahill said he expected to issue a ruling Friday.
The seven jurors recalled were seated last week, before the Minneapolis City Council voted unanimously to settle a wrongful-death lawsuit filed by Floyd’s family.
Of the seven jurors questioned, five told Cahill they had seen news of the settlement but could remain impartial. But two — Jurors No. 20 and No. 36 — said they felt knowledge of the settlement had negatively affected their ability to guarantee Chauvin a presumption of innocence before hearing evidence in the case.
“It will impact it a lot,” Juror No. 36, a Hispanic man in his 20s, told Cahill. “I was asked about my strong opinions against Chauvin. Clearly the city of Minneapolis has some strong opinions as well, and that just kind of confirms my opinions that I already had.”
Juror No. 20, a White man in his 30s, told the judge he had seen a headline about the civil settlement and was stunned by the amount. “That sticker price obviously shocked me and kind of swayed me a little bit,” the man said.
Cahill dismissed both jurors for cause. A third juror — a White woman known as Juror No. 44 — said she had seen headlines about the $27 million settlement, prompting her to delete her social media accounts in an effort not to be compromised.
The woman told Cahill she wasn’t surprised by the news. “I think [the city of Minneapolis] made their position clear when they decided to defund the police,” she said, an apparent reference to efforts by some Minneapolis City Council members to replace the police department with a new public safety agency.
Cahill kept her on the jury. Afterward, he told attorneys he believed the woman could be impartial and that her hesitation reflected her previous posture when she was questioned last week. He advised the remaining jurors that it would be “probably better to avoid all news” beginning now.
The judge’s decision initially reduced the number of seated jurors to seven. But on Wednesday afternoon, the two more were approved — a Black man in his 40s identified as Juror No. 79, and a White woman in her 40s known as Juror No. 85. So far the jury includes one multiracial woman; two White men, three White women and three Black men. The court is seeking a jury of 12, with up to four alternates.
“So we’re back to where we started this morning, but it’s better than being behind,” Cahill said.