MINNEAPOLIS – The $27 million civil settlement the city of Minneapolis reached last week with the family of George Floyd threw uncertainty into the ongoing selection of jurors Monday in the murder trial of fired police officer Derek Chauvin.
Defense attorney Eric Nelson expressed deep concern that jurors already chosen and those yet to be chosen will be prejudiced should they learn of the settlement, thereby denying his client his right to a fair trial. During Friday's proceedings, the city council signed off on the settlement, followed by a public announcement.
"I am gravely concerned with the news that broke on Friday related to the civil settlement," Nelson said. "...The fact that this came in the exact middle of jury selection is perplexing to me, Your Honor."
Nelson said the settlement's timing was "very suspicious" and "has incredible propensity to taint the jury pool."
Prosecutor Steve Schleicher argued for jury selection to continue uninterrupted, adding, "All I can say to the court is there are some things the state of Minnesota and this prosecution team can control, and there are some things it cannot control. ... We cannot control the civil aspect of the case, we cannot and do not control the Minneapolis City Council, and we certainly cannot and do not control the news cycle."
Hennepin County District Judge Peter Cahill agreed that the timing of Friday's announcement was problematic.
"You would agree it's unfortunate wouldn't you?" Cahill asked Schleicher. "That we have this reported all over the media when we're in the midst of jury selection?"
"I don't know which way it cuts," Schleicher said.
"The problem is that it cuts," Cahill said. "I think the defense has a legitimate concern and even the state has a concern."
"...I wish city officials would stop talking about this case so much," Cahill continued. "At the same time, I don't find any evil intent that they were trying to tamper with this case. ... The timing is not related to this case."
Cahill said he intends to bring the seven jurors chosen so far back into court so they can be questioned about what they might have heard about the settlement and how it might affect their ability to serve on the panel.
Cahill said he would consider Nelson's motion for a continuance.
Attorneys for the Floyd family hailed the settlement as the largest in a civil rights wrongful death lawsuit in U.S. history, saying the payout sent a powerful statement about the value of Black lives in America.
Before jury selection began Monday, attorneys debated motions that address the scope of testimony by medical expert witnesses, with no rulings prompting any significant changes for what can be aired come the trial in earnest. What did not come up during motions was the appropriateness of the settlement being injected into the trial proceedings.
Half of the jury was selected by the end of Friday after rounds of questioning that focused on the case's publicity and opinions on racial bias and police reform.
Chauvin is charged with second-degree murder, third-degree murder and manslaughter after pinning his knee onto Floyd's neck on a south Minneapolis street corner for more than nine minutes on May 25 until Floyd lost consciousness and died.
With seven more jurors yet to be chosen before the trial starts in earnest on March 29, the panel consists of one multiracial woman in her 20s, one Black man in his 30s who immigrated to the United States, one Hispanic man in his 20s, one white woman in her 50s, a white man in his 20s and two white men in their 30s.
Cahill allotted three weeks to pick 14 jurors, two of them alternates, given the amount of publicity the case has received, but many prospective jurors interviewed over the past week said they saw news of the case in passing and could set aside their knowledge and opinions if chosen.
The defense has used eight of 15 strikes, which attorneys can employ to dismiss prospective jurors without explanation. Prosecutors have used five of the nine peremptory strikes.
Three other officers assisting in Floyd's arrest — J. Alexander Kueng, Thomas Lane and Tou Thao — are scheduled to be tried in August on charges of aiding and abetting murder and manslaughter.
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(Star Tribune staff writer Chao Xiong contributed to this report.)
