At Chauvin trial, some in jury pool have sharp views on case involving George Floyd’s death

MINNEAPOLIS —  The long process of jury selection for a former Minneapolis police officer charged in George Floyd’s death began Tuesday with three jurors picked and six others in the pool dismissed, including some who said they would not be able to set aside their views on what happened.

One woman who was dismissed said: “I definitely have strong opinions about the case. I think I can try to be impartial — I don’t know that I can promise impartiality.”

The three jurors who were selected — two men and one woman — all said they had heard some details about the case against Derek Chauvin but would be able to put aside what they heard or opinions they had formed and make a decision based on evidence in court. One of the selected jurors said he hadn’t seen the widely viewed bystander video of Floyd’s arrest at all, while the others described seeing it minimally.

One woman who saw the video said she doesn’t understand why Chauvin didn’t get up when Floyd said he couldn’t breathe.

“That’s not fair, because we are humans, you know?” she said. She too was dismissed.

The exchanges among potential jurors, attorneys and the judge illustrate the challenges in seating a jury in such a well-known case. In addition to asking questions about their ability to keep an open mind, attorneys asked about how they resolve conflicts, their views on the criminal justice system, and whether they felt safe serving on the jury. One potential juror expressed anxiety over the divisiveness of the case, while another feared his family could be targeted; both were dismissed.

Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill set aside at least three weeks for jury selection. Opening statements are scheduled no sooner than March 29.

Chauvin is charged with second-degree murder and manslaughter in Floyd’s death, and jury selection is proceeding despite uncertainty over whether a third-degree murder charge will be added. The state has asked the Minnesota Court of Appeals to stop proceedings until that’s resolved, which could mean a delay of weeks or months.

Floyd died on May 25 after Chauvin, who is white, pressed his knee against the Black man’s neck for about nine minutes. Floyd’s killing sparked sometimes violent 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.

The first man who was selected to serve on the jury, a chemist who says he works to find facts and thinks analytically, said he has never watched the video of Floyd’s arrest but that he has seen a still image from the video. When asked whether he could decide the case based on the evidence, he said, “I’d rely on what I hear in court.”

The man, whom prosecutors said identifies as white, said he supports the Black Lives Matter movement but views the organization itself unfavorably. He also has an unfavorable view of the pro-police Blue Lives Matter movement. He said everyone should matter the same.

“The whole point of that is that all lives should matter equally, and that should include police,” he said.

A woman who was selected described herself as a “go-with-the-flow” person who could talk with anyone about anything. The woman, who is related to a police officer in greater Minnesota, said she initially had a negative perception of Chauvin because of what she saw in the bystander video, but said she doesn’t know him and could be proved wrong.

“That video just makes you sad,” said the woman, who appears to be biracial, according to a pool reporter in the courtroom. “Nobody wants to see somebody die, whether it was his fault or not.”

She said that there could be many reasons why Chauvin would pin Floyd to the ground, and that while she has heard Floyd had drugs in his system when he died, she understands that may not have been a factor in his death.

The third juror selected, an auditor who a pool reporter said appeared to be white, also told the court he would be open-minded. When asked how he resolves conflicts on teams at work, he said: “We use more facts over emotions in those cases.”

Chauvin’s attorney, Eric Nelson, exercised two of his 15 peremptory challenges on potential jurors who identify as Latino, which led prosecutors to object that the jurors were being rejected because of their race. Cahill disagreed, noting that the second Latino juror to be dismissed had martial arts experience and referred to Chauvin’s restraint as an “illegal” move. The judge said that man made it clear he would stick to his opinions until someone told him otherwise, improperly shifting the burden of proof to the defense.

Cahill ruled on several pretrial motions Tuesday, setting parameters for trial testimony. Among them, Cahill said jurors will hear when Chauvin stopped working for the Minneapolis Police Department, but not that he was fired or that the city made a “substantial offer” to settle a lawsuit from Floyd’s family. Those details won’t be allowed because they could imply guilt, Cahill said.

Minneapolis City Atty. Jim Rowader said the city made an offer to the Floyd family last summer that was rejected. He didn’t provide details. A message left with an attorney for the Floyd family hasn’t been returned.

Cahill also ruled that a firefighter, who can be heard in the bystander video urging the officers to check Floyd’s pulse, will be allowed to testify about what she saw and whether she thought medical intervention was needed. But she won’t be allowed to speculate that she could have saved Floyd if she had intervened. Testimony about what training Chauvin received will be allowed.