Two of the seven jurors summoned for questioning at the ex-policeman Derek Chauvin’s trial were dismissed on Wednesday after telling the court that last week’s media coverage of Minneapolis’s $ 27 million civil settlement with the family of George Floyd can affect your ability to be fair and impartial during criminal proceedings.
Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill first dismissed “juror # 36”, who told the court that he had heard of the deal and that he confirmed the negative opinions he already had about Chauvin.
“I think it will be difficult to be impartial,” said the judge.
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The judge then dismissed “juror # 20”, who told the court that he saw a headline about the settlement at the end of last week – but “left it at that” and did not read the article to comply with the court’s instructions that the jurors supposed to avoid media coverage of the case.
The judge said he remembered reading the headline: “The city of Minneapolis has agreed to pay George Floyd’s family, I mean, and worth 20 million dollars.”
“I would say that especially that dollar amount was a little shocking to me, it kind of sent a message that the city of Minneapolis felt something was wrong. And they wanted to fix that dollar amount, ”said the judge, explaining his reaction. “I think in the headline, if I said $ 2,000 versus 20 million, it’s a big change. So, I think the price tag obviously shocked me and kind of shook me up a bit.”
“Again, I’m just trying to share with you what I know. My instinctive reaction to that. Once again, with the dollar value being high, I will try to leave it at that,” he said.
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Cahill then dismissed him from the jury in order to exercise “extreme caution”, recognizing that the court knows that he did not seek this information, but would still dismiss him “about the possibility that you have inadvertently seen it and this may affect your ability to be fair and impartial. “
Cahill kept five other jurors who were already seated.
Seven people were selected for the jury last week, before the announcement of the deal on Friday. An eighth and a ninth jurors were seated before Wednesday, when the first seven were called back for questioning. Two of the seven were discarded. The remaining five join the other two seated this week, leaving seven jurors seated.
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Chauvin’s lawyer, Eric Nelson, considered the timing of the announcement in the midst of the jury selection “deeply disturbing for the defense” and “unfair”. He also asked for the trial to be postponed, which Cahill is considering.
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The prosecution and defense argued on Tuesday over whether evidence of Floyd’s arrest in Minneapolis in 2019 should be allowed at trial. The judge previously rejected Chauvin’s attempt to tell the jury about the arrest, which took place a year before the fatal meeting in May 2020 – but heard new arguments on Tuesday from both sides. He said he would judge the request on Thursday.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.