The court conducted a three-week jury selection process in which the judge, the state and the defense could strike jurors. While it’s impossible to impanel a jury of people who haven’t heard of the case, the jurors were asked to avoid the news at the beginning of the process and were asked questions about potential biases.
The trial of Derek Chauvin in the death of George Floyd is now underway following the conclusion of the jury selection process last week.
The former Minneapolis police officer faces charges of murder and manslaughter in Floyd’s death. It’s one of the most closely-watched criminal trials in recent U.S. history. The case has remained in the national spotlight since video footage of Floyd's final moments first sparked national protests and conversations last year, and now a jury will determine whether Chauvin will be held responsible for his death or not. News media nationwide is closely covering the trial and a few sources are streaming it live online.
The court selected the jury from an initial pool of 326 people, randomly picked from eligible residents in Hennepin County, Minnesota, where the trial is taking place.
That pool of people has been questioned, a process shown on livestreams of the trial, by Judge Peter Cahill, the defense and the prosecution.
The potential jurors were grilled on their opinions about the case, Black Lives Matter, policing, and much more.
Judge Cahill released dozens of jurors. The defense got 18 peremptory strikes, allowing them to release jurors for their own reasons. The prosecution, that’s the state in this case, got 10 strikes.
Once the jurors entered the pool, they were asked to avoid all news if possible. That’s because current events can impact the jury’s ability to be impartial. One such example was the announcement from the City of Minneapolis on March 12 that it had reached a $27 million settlement agreement in the civil lawsuit filed by George Floyd’s family.
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