MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – A judge on Wednesday dismissed two jurors who sat for the trial of a former Minneapolis police officer accused in George Floyd’s indictments over concerns that they were infected by the city’s announcement of a $ 27 million settlement with Floyd’s family.
Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill recalled seven jurors who sat before the settlement was announced last week, at the request of former officer Derek Chauvin, attorney Eric Nelson. Cahill asked each one what they know about the settlement and whether it will affect their ability to serve.
The dismissal of only two jurors suggests that the impact of the settlement on the jury pool was less than feared, which likely reduces the chance that Cahill will allow a defense request to delay the trial. The judge decided on March 29 to open statements if the jury’s selection was completed by that time.
Cahill was careful to ask jurors if they had heard of the settlement without giving details, including whether they were exposed to the “extensive media coverage of developments in a civil lawsuit between the city of Minneapolis and the family of George Floyd.”
The first fired juror, a white man in his thirties, said he had heard of the settlement and that he thought it would be “difficult to be impartial.”
“The sticker price obviously shocked me,” said the second deceased juror. The Spanish man in his twenties said he thought he could put the news aside, but was not sure.
Cahill detained five other jurors, including a black man in his thirties who heard on the radio about the settlement on Friday night, but the case could decide on the evidence presented in the courtroom.. “It did not affect me at all, because I do not know the details,” he said.
Nelson mentioned the timing of the announcement in the midst of the jury’s selection “Deeply disturbing” and “not fair.”
Two additional judges were selected on Wednesday, bringing the total back to nine. There are five men and four women. Five are white, one is multiracial and three are black, and their ages range from 20 to 50. Fourteen jurors, including two deputies, is required.
The latest jurors are a black man in his forties who said he works in management and that he has lived in the Twin Cities area for about two decades after emigrating to America, and a white woman in her forties, who work as a consultant helping companies work through. transitions.
The man said he has a neutral view of Chauvin, and may start with a suspicion of innocence. He said he trusted the police, but that it would be fair for a jury to evaluate the officer’s actions.
The woman said she agrees that the police do not always treat white and black people equally, but that she has a fairly strong trust in the police in her community. She said it was important for people to work with the police.
“I probably learned or learned that you respect the police and do what they ask,” she said.
Several were excused, including a man whose race was not disclosed, who said he tended to believe a police officer’s version of events about that of a citizen, and a black man who was negative expressed opinions about the Minneapolis police station.
He said Floyd is an example of another Black man who was “killed” or “killed” by police, and that he saw police in Minneapolis driving through the area near Floyd’s arrest and encountering residents after someone shot. or sent to prison.
Another man who said he was white was fired after saying he had watched the video of Floyd and Chauvin’s interaction multiple times and that it would be difficult to accept Chauvin’s innocence.
Chauvin is charged with murder and manslaughter in the death of May 25 Floyd, a black man who was pronounced dead after Chauvin, who is white, pressed his knee against his neck for about nine minutes.. Floyd’s death, captured on video by bystanders, sparked weeks of sometimes violent protests across the country, leading to a national calculation on racial justice.
The judge said he would rule Friday on Nelson’s request to delay or move the trial, and another to acknowledge evidence of Floyd’s arrest in 2019 in Minneapolis..
Three other former officers are on trial at a trial in August in Floyd’s death on charges of aiding and abetting second-degree murder and manslaughter.
The judge opened the court on Wednesday by threatening to remove a media pool and a media center closed. A visibly angry Cahill described a pool report describing a reporter’s attempts to read notebooks at the defense and prosecution tables and the safety in the court where the trial takes place.
Cahill said any media that posted details about security should remove it or run the chance of being kicked out of the media center. He does not name any reporters or media organizations.
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Find AP’s full coverage of George Floyd’s death: https://apnews.com/hub/death-of-george-floyd
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This story has been corrected to show that the judge will rule on the recognition of a previous arrest of Floyd on Friday, not Thursday.