MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — 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, at 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.
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The first dismissed juror, a white man in his 30s, said he heard about the settlement and that he thought it would be “hard to be impartial.”
“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.
Cahill retained five other jurors, including a Black man in his 30s who said he heard about the settlement on the radio Friday evening but could
decide the case on the 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.”
Two additional jurors were chosen 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 their 20s to 50s. Fourteen jurors,
including two alternates, are needed.
The newest jurors are 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, and a white woman in her 40s, who works as a consultant helping companies work through transitions.
The man said he had a neutral view of Chauvin, and could start with a presumption of innocence. He said he trusts police, but that it would be fair for a jury to evaluate the officer’s actions.
The woman said she agreed that police don’t always treat white and Black people equally, but that she has a pretty strong faith in police in her community. She said it’s important for people to cooperate with police.
“I’ve probably been taught or learned along the way that you respect police and you do what they ask,” she said.
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.
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The judge said he will rule Friday on Nelson’s request to delay or move the trial and another to admit
evidence of Floyd’s 2019 arrest in Minneapolis.
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The judge opened court Wednesday by
threatening to remove a media pool and shut down a media center. A visibly angry Cahill described a pool report that included a reporter’s attempts to read notepads at the defense and prosecution tables and described security in the court where the trial is taking place.
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