Judge rejects delaying or moving trial in Floyd death

MINNEAPOLIS — A judge ruled Friday that he won’t delay or move the trial of a former Minneapolis police officer charged in George Floyd’s death over concerns that a $27 million settlement for Floyd’s family could taint the jury pool.

Meanwhile, a 13th juror was seated Friday — a woman who said she has only seen clips of the video of Floyd’s arrest and needs to learn more about what happened beforehand. The jury will include 12 jurors and three alternates.

Jury selection was halfway complete last week when the Minneapolis City Council announced it had unanimously approved the large payout to settle a civil rights lawsuit over Floyd’s death. Chauvin’s attorney, Eric Nelson, subsequently sought to halt or move the trial, arguing the timing of the settlement jeopardized Chauvin’s chance for a fair trial. Chauvin is charged with murder and manslaughter.

But Hennepin County District Judge Peter Cahill said he thought a delay would do nothing to stem the problem of pretrial publicity. As for moving the trial, he said there is no location in Minnesota that hasn’t been touched by the publicity.

The judge handed the defense a victory by ruling that the jury can hear evidence from Floyd’s 2019 arrest, but only evidence possibly pertaining to the cause of his death in 2020. He acknowledged there are several similarities between the two encounters, including that Floyd swallowed drugs after police confronted him. The defense argues that Floyd’s drug use contributed to his death.

The county medical examiner classified Floyd’s death as a homicide, with an initial summary that said he “had a cardiopulmonary arrest while being restrained by police.”

Floyd, who was Black, was declared dead May 25 after Chauvin, who is white, pressed his knee on his neck for about nine minutes while he was handcuffed and pleading that he couldn’t breathe. Floyd’s death, captured on a widely seen bystander video, set off weeks of sometimes violent protests across the country and led to a national reckoning on racial justice.

The 13 jurors chosen so far are split by race: seven are white, four are Black and two are multiracial, according to the court. Opening statements will begin March 29 if the jury is complete by then.

Three other former officers face an August trial in Floyd’s death on charges of aiding and abetting seconddegree murder and manslaughter.