MINNEAPOLIS – Jury selection was delayed yesterday in the high-profile trial of the white police officer accused of killing George Floyd, a black man whose death was captured on video and sparked mass protests against racial injustice in the United States and around the world.
As hundreds of protesters gathered near a heavily guarded Minneapolis courthouse, Hennepin county judge Peter Cahill ordered jury selection put off until at least today.
Prosecutors had asked for it to be paused until a Court of Appeal can rule on whether the judge should reinstate a third-degree murder charge against former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin.
“The court will be seating jurors for a trial on which we don’t know what the exact charges are going to be yet,” said lead prosecutor Matthew Frank.
Chauvin, 44, is currently facing charges of second-degree murder and manslaughter in connection with Floyd’s May 25 death.
Second-degree murder carries a maximum sentence of 40 years in prison, while the lesser charge of third-degree murder carries 25 years.
The visibly impatient judge said he believes selection of the 12 jurors and four alternates should go ahead but agrees to hold off while the appeal is pending.
He later said jury selection will begin at 9am central time (1500 GMT) today.
“Unless the Court of Appeal tells me otherwise, we’re going to keep moving.”
While jury selection has not formally begun, prosecutors and Chauvin’s defence attorney did mutually agree yesterday to dismiss 16 members of the initial pool of 50 jurors.
Both sides also agreed to submit a list of witnesses to the court by March 22, and prosecutors agreed to winnow down their current list of 362 potential witnesses.
Chauvin, who has been free on bail, appeared in court wearing a dark blue suit and face mask at a desk surrounded by plexiglass as a Covid-19 precaution.
He occasionally jotted down notes on a yellow legal pad. – AFP, March 9, 2021
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