MINNEAPOLIS – Jury selection was delayed for at least a day in the murder case against Derek Chauvin, the fired police officer charged with killing George Floyd on a Minneapolis street corner nearly 10 months ago.
Hennepin County District Court Judge Peter Cahill said he wants to hear from the state Court of Appeals about whether a third-degree murder charge can be added to the counts of second-degree murder and manslaughter in Floyd's death last May, which was captured on a bystander's cellphone video and broadcast around the world.
After hearing from attorneys, Cahill said he wanted to hear from the state Court of Appeals — possibly on a telephone hearing later Monday— as to whether to proceed with jury selection while the third-degree charge is unresolved. He ordered prospective jurors dismissed for the day and wanted them prepared to return Tuesday.
He initially said he would start the trial with the issue unresolved, starting with jury selection, a meticulous task that could take up to three weeks to accomplish before an anticipated March 29 date for opening statements from the defense and the prosecution.
Chauvin's defense attorney, Eric Nelson, said he intends to ask the State Supreme Court to overturn a Court of Appeals ruling Friday that directed Cahill to reinstate the third-degree murder charge against the former cop.
But Nelson also said he was ready to begin trial with the charge still pending. He said he expected to petition to the Supreme Court as soon as Tuesday.
"I want to inform the court that we're prepared to try this case," he said. "It is not our intent to cause delay. However, I feel I have an ethical obligation to my client to [petition the Supreme Court]."
Prosecutor Matthew Frank contended that proceedings are best to be delayed.
"This court will be seating jurors for a trial about which we don't know what the exact charges are going to be yet," Frank said. "What we are asking the court to do is stop the jury selection process at this time."
Cahill contended that the third-degree murder charge is a narrow issue and questioned whether a jury could continue to be seated before that charge is resolved. Waiting for the Supreme Court to rule, the judge cautioned, could delay the trial by at least 30 days.
"We want it out in the open, we don't want to wait for a condition that may not get satisfied when a jury is sitting there," Frank said. "We're not trying to delay this case, we want to try it right, and we can only try it once."
Chauvin, dressed in a navy blue suit and tie and wearing a black mask, looked on intently, occasionally taking notes.
Floyd died after the 46-year-old Black man was pinned under the knee of the white officer for roughly 9 minutes touching off days of violent demonstrations in Minneapolis, neighboring St. Paul and across the country.
On Monday, outside the Hennepin County Government Center, hundreds of protesters mingled on a mild and sunny late-winter morning. Some were selling or giving away flowers. Posters with activist messages were attached to barricades and chain-link fencing that rings the building. Law enforcement personnel and heavy vehicles were obvious in their presence but modest in number.
Three other fired officers implicated in Floyd's death are scheduled for a single trial in August.
The 18th-floor courtroom has been revamped to allow for social distancing due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Big clear plastic dividers separate the judge and court staff from the limited number of other people in the courtroom. Clear dividers also run down the middle of the defense and prosecution tables.
____
(Staff writer Rochelle Olson contributed to this report.)
