2 Chauvin jurors dropped after $27M settlement
MINNEAPOLIS – A judge on Wednesday dismissed two jurors who had been seated for the trial of a former Minneapolis police officer accused in George Floyd’s death over concerns they had been tainted by the city’s announcement of a $27 million settlement with Floyd’s family.
Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill recalled seven jurors who were seated before the settlement was announced last week, on the request of former officer Derek Chauvin’s attorney, Eric Nelson. Cahill questioned each about what they knew of the settlement and whether it would affect their ability to serve.
The dismissal of only two jurors suggested the impact of the settlement on the jury pool was less than feared, likely reducing the chance of Cahill granting a defense request to delay the trial. The judge has set March 29 for opening statements if jury selection is finished by then.
Cahill was careful to ask jurors if they had heard about the settlement without giving details, asking if they had been exposed to the “extensive media coverage about developments in a civil suit between the city of Minneapolis and the family of George Floyd.”
The first dismissed juror, a white man in his 30s, said he heard about the settlement. “I think it will be hard to be impartial,” he said.
“That sticker price obviously shocked me,” the second dismissed juror said. The Hispanic man in his 20s said he thought he could set the news aside, but wasn’t sure, and after a long pause, Cahill dismissed him.
Cahill retained five other jurors, including a Black man in his 30s who told Cahill he heard about the settlement on the radio Friday evening but could put it aside and decide the case only on evidence presented in the courtroom.
“It hasn’t affected me at all because I don’t know the details,” he said.
Nelson called the timing of the announcement in the middle of jury selection “profoundly disturbing” and “not fair.”
Eight jurors have been seated, including five men and three women. Four are white, one is multiracial and three are Black, and their ages range from 20s to 50s. Fourteen jurors, including two alternates, are needed.
One was chosen Wednesday, a Black man in his 40s who said he works in management and has lived in the Twin Cities area for about two decades after immigrating to America. He expressed neutral opinions on several topics, including his view of Chauvin, and said he could start with a presumption of innocence.
Several were excused, including a man whose race was not disclosed who said he would tend to believe a police officer’s version of events over that of a citizen, and a Black man who expressed negative views about the Minneapolis Police Department.
A third potential juror, a man who said he is white and also lives in that area, was dismissed after he said he had watched video of Floyd’s and Chauvin’s interaction multiple times and that it would be difficult for him to presume Chauvin’s innocence.
Chauvin is charged with murder and manslaughter in the May 25 death of Floyd, a Black man who was declared dead after Chauvin, who is white, pressed his knee against his neck for about nine minutes.