George Floyd killing: more jurors picked in Derek Chauvin trial before new pause
Attorneys in the murder trial of Derek Chauvin, an ex-Minneapolis police officer charged over George Floyd’s death last year, questioned potential jurors on Wednesday about their attitudes toward both law enforcement and the Black Lives Matter movement.
This week marks week one of the unusually long, three-week period of jury selection. It is an extensive process during which attorneys ask the prospective jurors one by one whether they could keep an open mind, what they think of the criminal justice system, how they resolve conflicts and more.
Questioning began on Monday 8 March and continued through Wednesday when two more jurors were seated, bringing the total to five of the 12 required jurors now seated.
Of the five jurors, three are white men, one is a multilingual Black man who immigrated to the US 14 years ago, and one woman of color.
The process actually began months ago, when potential jurors responded to an extensive questionnaire that explored their familiarity with the case and their own contacts with police. The questionnaires have not been made public, and the jurors’ identities are being kept secret.
One man selected said he views the racial justice movement more favorably than he does police. The man, who works in sales management and grew up in a mostly white part of central Minnesota, said to the court, “Are there bad police officers? Yes. Are there good ones? Yes. I don’t think it’s right to blame the entire organization.”
The man joined three others who were selected for the panel on Tuesday, the first day of jury selection in
Derek Chauvin’s trial on second-degree murder and manslaughter charges.
Floyd was declared dead on 25 May after Chauvin, who is white, knelt on his neck for eight minutes and 46 seconds. Floyd’s death sparked protests in Minneapolis and beyond, leading to a nationwide reckoning on race. Chauvin and three other officers were fired. The others face an August trial on aiding and abetting charges.
Prosecutor Steve Schleicher used a challenge on Wednesday to remove from the panel a woman who has a nephew who is a sheriff ’s deputy in western Minnesota. Chauvin’s attorney, Eric Nelson, exercised two of his 15 peremptory challenges on Tuesday on potential jurors who identify as Hispanic, which led prosecutors to object that the jurors were being rejected because of their race.
Judge Peter Cahill disagreed, noting that the second Hispanic juror to be dismissed had martial arts experience and referred to Chauvin’s restraint as an “illegal” move.
Jury selection is delayed while Cahill considers reviving a third-degree murder charge in addition to Chauvin’s second-degree murder and manslaughter charges. The state asked the Minnesota court of appeals to stop proceedings until that is resolved. The Minnesota supreme court declined to take up the issue of third-degree murder, leaving the decision to include the charge and continue with the trial in Judge Cahill’s hands.