Trial Jury Derek Chauvin: What we know about the judges selected so far

The jury selection process, which began Tuesday at the Hennepin County Government Center, will continue until the court rules on 14 people – split into 12 jurors and two deputies, Hennepin County Court Director of Communications Spenser Bickett told CNN.

Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, died on May 25, 2020, after Chauvin, a white former Minneapolis police officer, placed his knee on Floyd’s neck for an extended period of time while Floyd pleaded, “I can’t breathe.” His final moments were videotaped, and his death sparked widespread protests against police brutality and racism under the Black Lives Matter banner, as well as incidents of unrest and looting.

The opening statements will begin no earlier than March 29, followed by testimony that can last approximately four weeks.

Who has been selected?

Eric Nelson questions the future jurors for the defense, while Steve Schleicher questions them for the prosecution. Judge Peter Cahill is chairing the trial.

On the first day of the jury selection on Tuesday, three jury members were selected and two jury members were selected on Wednesday.

The first jury member elected was a white male in his 20s or 30s who works as a chemist and said he has an analytical mind.

The second juror was a woman of color who appears to be in her twenties or thirties, according to comments from a pool reporter in court. She said she was “super excited” to receive the jury questionnaire form.

The third jury member elected was a white male in his thirties who works as an auditor.

The fourth judge was a white male in his late thirties or forties who said he had a “very favorable” view of Black Lives Matter. He also said he believed the police are more honest than other witnesses. The judge plans to get married on May 1 and told the court that if he was selected for trial, it could delay the wedding.

“Go ahead and throw me under the bus with your fiancé,” the judge joked. The judge replied, “Okay, I will.”

The fifth jury member elected was a black man in his thirties or forties who moved to the US 14 years ago and works in information technology. He said he had a “somewhat negative” opinion of Chauvin, that he strongly disagreed with the closure of the police, and that the police make him feel safe.

Who was excused

If the defense or prosecutor believes that a person cannot be impartial in the case, they can ask the court to dismiss the person for a reason. Each side has unlimited challenges to the cause.

Prosecutors and attorneys can also fire potential jurors for no reason using what is called an overriding challenge. Chauvin’s team gets 15 of these challenges, and the prosecution has nine. However, these compelling challenges can themselves be challenged if they are based on race, ethnicity or gender – also known as a Batson challenge.

Six people were excused from being on the jury on Tuesday and two were excused on Wednesday.

The defense used coercive attacks on a Spanish woman who said her English was not great and on a Spanish man who had taken martial arts. The state took a Batson challenge, arguing that the strikes were race-based, but the defense disagreed and the judge sided with the defense’s race-neutral reasoning.

The defense also used an attack on a man who appears to be Asian in his 30s or 40s.

The prosecution used a compulsive assault on a white man in her 50s or 60s who told people not to guess the decisions of police officers, as well as a white woman in her 60s who said she had a lot of faith in the police.

Three future jurors were excused by the judge: a woman who said she could not be impartial, a man who was concerned that the trial would affect his work as an accountant, and a 19-year-old man for saying he would call the police. treat officer witnesses differently than others.