Jury selection began Tuesday at Derek Chauvin’s high-profile trial, despite an ongoing legal dispute over the possible reinstatement of a third-degree murder charge against the former Minneapolis police officer.
Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill made the unusual decision Tuesday to advance the 44-year-old’s trial, troubling prosecutors who argued this week to proceed before an appeals court has decided the charge. third grade could end in Chauvin’s case. be thrown.
Chauvin, one of four officers charged for his role in George Floyd’s death, currently faces two counts, second degree murder and second degree murder, at his trial in Hennepin County District Court. The former cop is charged with violently arresting Floyd for a counterfeit $ 20 bill on May 25 and kneeling on the unarmed black man’s neck for more than eight minutes. He faces up to 40 years in prison.
On Monday, Cahill delayed the jury selection process, which is expected to take about three weeks, after the Minnesota Court of Appeals said Friday that the previously filed third-degree murder charge against Chauvin should be reconsidered. . Cahill, who ruled against the third-degree charge last year, said he wanted to hear the appeals court’s ruling on whether the new charge should be added to Chauvin’s case.
Chauvin’s defense attorney, Eric Nelson, has previously stated that he intends to file an appeal with the Minnesota Supreme Court if the third-degree murder charge is reinstated.
Prosecutors argued Monday that jury selection should be postponed until the appeal is resolved, arguing that jurors need clarity on the charges Chauvin will face at trial. They also want to wait for the appeals court to determine whether the trial is allowed to advance before bringing dozens of potential jurors to court.
But Monday’s delay didn’t last long, and jury selection resumed Tuesday morning under Cahill’s direction.
“This court will seat the jurors for a trial about which we do not yet know what the exact charges will be,” Minnesota Assistant Attorney General Matthew Frank, the lead prosecutor in the case, said Monday. “Our position is that while this appeal is pending, the court has no authority to hear matters related to the trial.”
Prosecutors fear that the decision to move forward before the appellate court’s decision could cause the case to be thrown out entirely. They are concerned that while the appeals court waits to rule on the third-degree charge, the case is not in Cahill’s jurisdiction.
“[Chauvin] he is effectively in a situation of ‘heads I win, tails you lose’ “, said the prosecutors in Monday’s motion, adding that the former policeman” can take risks in the trial … and if he is convicted, now he can also affirm that he has the right to revocation because the District Court lacked jurisdiction at a crucial moment of the trial. “
“The District Court correctly recognized that it lacks jurisdiction even to hear arguments on [Chauvin’s] alternative theories against including a third degree murder charge, let alone deciding that issue, ”the motion adds. “The District Court mistakenly believes, however, that it can select the jurors who will ultimately adjudicate that same charge.”
As of Tuesday afternoon, the appeals court had not issued its ruling.
“We are not trying to delay this case,” Frank said Tuesday. “We want to try well and we can only try once.”
Despite pleas from prosecutors for a delay, Cahill called the first batch of potential jurors Tuesday and told them that additional charges could be added in the high-profile case.
“I’m going to keep going until they tell me to stop,” Cahill said.
As of Tuesday afternoon, three of the 12 jurors needed for the trial had been chosen: a young chemist who said he had “somewhat favorable” views on the Black Lives Matter movement and a woman from northern Minnesota. That he said was a “good option”. the fluent, open-minded kind of person. “ The third jury, who was sitting just before Cahill finished court for the day, is a financial auditor who has a friend in the Minneapolis Police Department, but claims not to have a favorable opinion of the “Blue Lives Matter” movement.
“I consider myself quite a logical person … I base myself on facts and logic and what is in front of me. Opinion and facts are important distinctions to me, ”the first jury, who is white, said in court on Tuesday.
It is unclear if there will be another delay in the jury selection process as the issue of the third degree murder charge makes its way through the courts. Nelson agreed with Cahill’s decision Tuesday to continue with jury selection while he appealed.
“We are prepared to try this case. It is not our intention to cause delays. However, I have an ethical obligation to my client, ”Nelson said in court Monday.
Jonathan Smith, executive director of the Washington Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs, said it was unusual to see the third-degree murder charge raised just days before the trial began, but he is not surprised that Cahill moved the judgment. forward.
However, he hopes Cahill’s decision will cause some kind of delay in the start of opening arguments.
“We will know the answer to the third degree murder charge before we open arguments. That’s it, ”he said. “They are the same facts and the charges are closely related. Essentially, the new position allows for a lower level of intent requirement. So I think we’re going to move on. There will be an appeal whatever happens in this case, so it doesn’t matter. “
Smith noted that the prosecutor’s decision to press the third-degree murder charge so close to trial is troubling.
“They don’t want to show a higher level of intention. Something clearly scared them, “he said, adding that it will be a” real blow to them “if this loose logistical end is not resolved quickly.
“Usually you want to go to trial showing real strength. And for me, it seems like there was a change in strategy at the last minute, “he added.
Smith believes that one of the reasons for this insistence on a delay is their concern that they will not be able to demonstrate the required level of intent that Chauvin wanted to harm Floyd, which could cost them the trial that will be seen around the world. However, he added that regardless of this lengthy appeal decision, the defense will argue in favor of a mistral “more than half a dozen times anyway.”
“I think his biggest challenge will not be deciding the third degree murder charge, but finding a jury in Hennepin that can be fair given the press and the summer rallies and everything in between.”