Jury Selection Day 9 - Trial for Death of George Floyd - Questioning PJ#111, #113

Potential jury pool: 326

Strikes: Defense 13/18. State 7/10

Jurors: 13/14

8 women 5 men

#1 - White man in his 20's (PJ2)

#2 - Multi-racial woman in 20’s (PJ9)

#3 - White man in 30's (PJ19)

#4 - Black man in 30's (PJ27)

#5 - White woman in 50's. (PJ44)

#6 - Black man, 30’s (PJ52)

#7 - White woman, 50’s (PJ55)

#8 - Black man, 40’s (PJ79)

#9 - Multi-racial woman, 40’s (PJ85)

#10 - White woman, 50s (PJ89)

#11 - Black woman, 60s (PJ91)

#12 - White woman 40s (PJ92)

#13 - White woman, 50s (PJ96)

(PJ) = potential juror number during questioning

DISMISSED AFTER JUDGE QUESTIONED ABOUT SETTLEMENT NEWS

WAS Sitting Juror #4 (Potential juror #20) - WHITE MALE, late 30’s.

DISMISSED AFTER JUDGE QUESTIONED ABOUT SETTLEMENT NEWS

WAS Sitting Juror #6 (PJ36) - MALE. Hispanic. Late 20’s.

MEANING OF Pass for cause is a term used during jury selection to decline removing a potential juror from the jury panel because he or she does not appear capable of rendering a fair and impartial verdict. In common usage, it often means to decline to kick a juror off the panel for cause.

MEANING OF Excused for Cause: Lawyers can ask a judge to reject potential jurors who are biased or incapable of following the law. ... When such bias is uncovered, the individual will be excused “for cause,” which means that the lawyer making the challenge can articulate to the judge an acceptable reason for rejecting that person.

Jury selection begins Monday, March 8 in the trial of Derek Chauvin, 44, the fired Minneapolis police officer charged in the alleged murder of George Floyd, 46. Judge Peter Cahill only allowed audio, not video. Join the Law&Crime Network every day for live coverage 9 a.m. ET to 5 p.m. ET. We’re available on these platforms.

As seen on footage, the defendant kneeled on the victim’s neck for minutes during a fateful arrest on May 25, 2020, while co-defendants Thomas Lane and J. Alexander Kueng were on the man’s back and legs. Floyd, who was handcuffed behind his back, was face down in the street, saying he could not breathe. He called out for his late mother. Angry bystanders demanded Chauvin remove the knee. Floyd became unresponsive. Authorities carried his limp body onto a stretcher.

The question before jurors is whether this constituted second-degree murder or second-degree manslaughter. Prosecutors are also fighting to reinstate a count of third-degree murder, after the Minnesota Court of Appeals overruled Cahill, the trial judge.

According to the government’s autopsy, Floyd died from cardiopulmonary arrest suffered while officers restrained him. He did have arteriosclerotic and hypertensive heart disease, and there was fentanyl in his system, as well as evidence of recent meth use, authorities said. The medical examiner determined these underlying conditions contributed to his death, but all told, this was a homicide.

Eight potential jurors are scheduled to be called a day, with four each morning, and four each afternoon. Both sides will question them one at a time. As part of the questionnaire, jurors were asked about matters including their knowledge of the case, their impression of the defendants and the victim, if they ever watched video of the fateful incident, and their history with demonstrations that happened after Floyd’s death.

Indeed, the incident tapped into a cultural fissure: the ongoing national debate over how law enforcement treats people of color, especially Black men like him.

#DerekChauvin #GeorgeFloyd