MN - George Floyd, 46, died in police custody, Minneapolis, 25 May 2020 *officers charged* #3

[Chelly]

@cathyrusson
·
26m

#DerekChauvinTrial - Judge: We're back where we started this morning but that's better than being behind.

·
24m

#DerekChauvinTrial - Judge grants defense THREE additional strikes and state ONE additional strike

Judge stated he's granting the additional strikes due to City's release of settlement figure.

 

[Chelly]

@cathyrusson
·
23m

#DerekChauvinTrial - Judge says he will not rule on the admissibility of the 2019 arrest video until Friday now.

 

[shotgun09]

I need to stop reading my John Grisham books while watching trials

 

[JerseyGirl]

Derek Chauvin Trial, Day 8 Live Updates: Jury Count Returns To 9 After 2 Previously Seated Jurors Were Excused

Potential juror No. 79, a Black man in his 40s, will serve on the jury. No. 79 indicated he had a “neutral” opinion of Chauvin and a “somewhat favorable” view of George Floyd.

____

Potential juror No. 85 is a white woman in her 40s who works as an organizational management consultant. She said she’s aware of the settlement, but doesn’t know exactly what it all entailed.

She said she has a neutral opinion of both Black Lives Matter and Blue Lives Matter, but has a very favorable opinion of police in her community. She said she believes People of Color sometimes face different treatment from police than white people. She also said she’s sympathetic to people suffering from addiction.

 

[Cool Cats]

Historic civil settlement for George Floyd's family brings uncertainty to Derek Chauvin's criminal trial

A historic $27 million settlement in a lawsuit filed over George Floyd's death, announced as a jury is being chosen for the criminal trial of the officer accused of killing him, complicates a high-profile prosecution and could become grounds for an appeal of a conviction, legal observers say.

In this image taken from video, defense attorney Eric Nelson, left, and defendant, former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, right, listen to Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill during pretrial motions, prior to continuing jury selection in the trial of Chauvin, Thursday, March 11, 2021, at the Hennepin County Courthouse in Minneapolis, Minn.

A sketch of Derek Chauvin sitting in court on the first day of jury selection in his trial in Minneapolis, Minn., March 8, 2021

 

[Cool Cats]

2 jurors dismissed over knowledge of $27 million settlement to George Floyd family

Hennepin County District Court Judge Peter Cahill removed two jurors who
said the dollar amount the city agreed to give the Floyd family confirmed the reservations they already had about Chauvin's culpability in the death of Floyd.

Two other jurors said they had inadvertently heard of the settlement announced on Friday, but felt they could set aside what they heard or saw about the civil court action and maintain impartiality and decide the case based solely on the evidence presented during the trial.



Asked by Judge Cahill how knowledge of the settlement would affect his ability to be impartial in this case, one of the dismissed jurors, a Hispanic man, who had been referred to in court as Juror 36, said, "It will impact it a lot."

He reminded Judge Cahill that he had been questioned extensively about "my strong opinions" against Chauvin.

"Clearly the city of Minneapolis has some strong opinions as well and this just kind of confirms the opinions that I already have," he said. "I think it will be hard to be impartial."

The second dismissed juror, a white man known as Juror 20, described the $27 million settlement as "kinda shocking."

"That kinda sent the message the city of Minneapolis felt something was wrong and they wanted to make it right to the tune of that dollar amount," he said before being removed from the case.

 

[Niner]

Thursday, March 18th:
*Trial continues with Jury Selection (Day 8) (Motions hearing @ 8am & jury selection @ 9am CT) - MN – George Perry Floyd, Jr. (46) (May 25, 2020, Minneapolis, arrested for forgery & killed in police custody) - *Derek Michael Chauvin (44) police officer who held his knee on Floyd’s neck for 8 minutes & 46 seconds (Note: on 10/14/20 this has been changed to 9 minutes & 30 seconds) (& non responsive for 2 minutes & 53 seconds before officer took his knee off his neck; from 8:19pm to 8:27pm his knee was on Floyd’s neck; has been fired (5/26/20) & arrested & charged (5/29/20) with 3rd degree murder & 2nd degree manslaughter. Charges changed (6/3/20) to 2nd degree murder-unintentional-while committing a felony, 3rd degree murder-perpetrating eminently dangerous act (3rd degree charge was dismissed on 10/22/20 & reinstated on 3/11/21) & evincing depraved mind & 2nd degree manslaughter-culpable negligence creating unreasonable risk. $500K bond, reset (6/8/20) @ $1.25M & $1M with conditions. Posted non-cash $1M bond (10/7/20) & has been released from jail.
Trial began on 3/8/21 with jury selection. Jury selection could run through March 26, 2021. Opening statements & the commencement of the State’s case will begin no earlier than March 29, 2021. Experts anticipate the trial could last 2-4 weeks. Jurors: 12 & 2 alternates. Jurors will be sequestered during deliberations. None of the other officers will be testifying at Chauvin’s trial.
Jurors seated as of 3/16/21: 1) Juror #2: White man in his 20s; chemist. 2) Juror #9: Multi-racial woman in her 20s. 3) Juror #19: White man in his 30s; auditor. 4) Juror #20: White man in his late 30s; sales manager-dismissed by Judge on 3/17. 4) Juror #27: Black man in his 30s; IT Security Manager. 6) Juror #36: Hispanic man in his 20s; route driver-dismissed by Judge on 3/17. 5) Juror #44: White woman in her 40s or 50s; Non-profit health advocate. 6) Juror #52: Black man in his 30s; banker/youth sports coach. 7) Juror #55: White woman in her 50s; Exec. Assistant in healthcare. 8) Juror #79: Black Man in his 40s. 9) Juror #85: Woman in her 40s; organizational management consultant. Total: 5-men/4-women.
Bond conditions & court info & jury selection (3/9 thru 3/15) from 12/19/20 thru 3/15/21 reference post #538 here:
MN - George Floyd, 46, killed in police custody, Minneapolis, 25 May 2020 *officers charged* #3
3/16/21 Tuesday, Day 6 of Jury Selection: Motions: Chauvin trial will argue again over evidence from the May 6, 2019 arrest of Floyd, to allow the body cam video. So far Judge Cahill has said no after watching the police body cameras, ruling that it is not relevant. "What caused Mr. Floyd's death is a principle issue," Defense attorney Eric Nelson says. Judge Cahill seems more willing to listen to the evidence of Floyd's vitals-taken by 2019 paramedic-to see what his vitals were after taking large amount of drugs. Nelson wants to use the 2019 arrest to counter the prosecution's plans to use a forensic psychiatrist's testimony that will say Floyd's behavior was consistent with anxiety & claustrophobia. Prosecutor Matthew Frank argues that if the defense wants to use the incident to show Floyd ingested drugs, that's not needed because they already have toxicology report to show that. They already have (2nd) search of Floyd's car to show drugs in there as well as search of police car. Frank argues the probative value is outweighed by prejudicial nature of bringing in the evidence. Judge Cahill agrees on parts but is still asking about the parts that might be relevant to the defense's cause of death argument. Judge Cahill is taking this under advisement & will review new FBI document the State provided to defense in discovery earlier this month. Judge Cahill will not decide immediately (possibly tomorrow) whether this evidence can be included in the trial. Defense: believes they asked for a full sequestration of the jurors during trial. Judge: At this point then, it is denied as well. Jury Selection continues: Juror #63 – Dismissed by Judge for cause, female. Juror #64 – Dismissed by Judge for cause, male. Juror #65 - Dismissed on 3/8. Juror #66 – Dismissed by Judge for hardship, female. Juror #67 – Dismissed by Defense, male. Juror #68 – Dismissed on 3/8. Juror #69 – Dismissed by defense, male. Judge: They will talk to the 7 jurors from last week tomorrow morning via Zoom. Defense wants a strike back for having to dismiss Juror #69 when he had knowledge of settlement. State fiercely opposes. Judge Cahill will NOT reinstate a strike for defense. Reiterates he will not hesitate to dismiss prospective jurors for cause moving forward if they come into court with knowledge of prejudicial pretrial publicity inc $27M settlement & failed murder-3 plea negotiations that leaked. Spc. Asst. A.G. Steve Schleicher says 329 potential jurors have been identified in this case. Juror #70 – Dismissed on 3/8. Juror #71 – Dismissed by Judge for case, male. Now only 3 potential jurors for the afternoon; the 4th one called in sobbing that she couldn’t do this. Juror #72 – Dismissed on 3/8. Jurors #73 – Dismissed by Judge, male. Court is adjourned for the day. Strikes: State 5/9 & Defense 11/15. Judge Cahill said he would question seven of the nine jurors seated in the case via Zoom on Wednesday morning as he weighs requests from Chauvin’s attorney to delay the case & reconsider a change-of-venue motion because of publicity related to the settlement. Judge Cahill told the attorneys he expected to interview jurors for about five minutes apiece. The judge indicated the jurors will be under oath & that only he will question them. While parties in the case will be allowed on the Zoom, only audio, not video, will be broadcast to the public. Jury selection continues on 3/17/21 at 8:45am when the Judge will question the 7 jurors first seated via zoom on knowledge of settlement. Judge says he plans to rule on the admissibility of Floyd's May 2019 arrest video on Thursday morning.
3/17/21 Wednesday, Day 7 of Jury Selection: Judge questions the 7 jurors via Zoom regarding knowledge of settlement. Judge Cahill is saying media is trying to look at documents of lawyers’ info on counsel tables. Secondly media is reporting in detail on security & he says is irresponsible & if continues he will shut down media. Will be met with sanctions if continues & asks all media to take down such. Or they will be met with sanctions. And thanks to dixiegirl1035 for this: ALL jurors being called this am re the "extensive coverage of civil lawsuit".
#2 - His fiancé said something in news, so he has completely avoided & not to watch news & hasn't seen any new news. He continues, not kicked.
#36 - He did get exposed to settlement. He saw "large amount of money-over 20 million. As to being impartial, "it will impact me a lot" as to opinions as City confirmed opinions he already had. Judge releases him for cause/removed.
#9 -She is not aware of any media recently. She continues, not kicked. Judge is suggesting to avoid all news. She ends with "awesome", when judge says see you in court.
#19 - He has not seen anything in media. Judge again asks to stay away from news in general & will see him on March 29th.
#20 - He did see headline. Headline was City agreed for "in 20 million dollar range". He saw headline & did not read article. As to impact him... he would say that dollar amount was shocking & that the City thought something was wrong. That sticker price shocked me & "swayed me. If was lower, would not have." Judge: Did it move you off the fair & impartial, the judge asks. He answers his gut reaction was high amount. He is excused by the judge.
#27 - He heard on radio heading to gym. Judge: How does that affect your ability to do fair & impartial. "It hasn't affected me at all as I don't know the details". Judge says to him that it won't be part of the trial. He says he can put aside & says we will see you on March 29th.
#44 - She did see headline of 27 million. re influence... "I don't think so, it's not surprising. She was surprised as she thought civil suit followed a trial". The City didn't see facts, they made the decision prior. Judge states that political could be an influence. She is saying has nothing to do with case & she has thought about it. She can disregard. Judge gives disclaimer about "best to avoid all media coverage". Will see you on March 29th.
Juror 36 has been dismissed for cause after he said it would be hard to remain impartial after learning of the City's settlement with Floyd's family. Juror 20 dismissed by the judge from jury service after learning about the City's settlement with Floyd's family. This is the 2nd juror dismissed this morning during the re-questioning. Now, there are 7 seated jurors, down from 9. Jury selection continues: Juror #74 – Dismissed on 3/8. Juror #75 – Dismissed by Judge for cause, male. Juror #76 – Dismissed by defense using a strike, black male, but argues with Judge that he should dismiss for cause. Juror #77 – Dismissed on 3/8. Juror #78 – Dismissed by Judge for cause, black male. Juror #79 - Selected, male. Juror #80 – 82 – Dismissed on 3/8. Juror #83 – Dismissed by Judge for cause, female. Juror #84 – Dismissed on 3/8. Juror #85 - Selected, female. Judge grants defense THREE additional strikes & State ONE additional strike. Judge stated he's granting the additional strikes due to City's release of settlement figure. Judge says he will not rule on the admissibility of the 2019 arrest video until Friday now. Jury selection continues on 3/18/21. Strikes: State 5/9 + 1 = 5/10 & Defense 12/15 + 3 = 12/18.
*Charged (7/22/20) with 6 counts of aiding & abetting taxes-false or fraudulent returns-filed with commissioner & 3 counts aiding & abetting taxes-failure to file return, report, document. – Omnibus hearing on 6/30/21.

 

[Niner]

I have the wrong time - starts at 8:30am

Cathy Russon
@cathyrusson
·
1h
#DerekChauvinTrial - The court sent out a correction on the details of the final juror chosen yesterday. PJ85, now seated juror #9 is multi/mixed-race woman, 40s. @LawCrimeNetwork



45m
Court starts at 8:30 am CT/9:30 am ET. Watch Live on @LawCrimeNetwork

link: https://twitter.com/cathyrusson

 

[dixiegirl1035]

I'll try to do ETA's this am

Juror #86 - First one today was a woman excused for cause merely by judge questioning her. Didn't even make it to defense questioning.

#87 - Woman - she has not heard of any civil litigations. She knows a person on the witness list, she thinks he works for the BCI (?). She has 5 kids. She has never seen the video, only still shots. Her friends talked about it that they had seen it and the general news story re held on ground with knee on him. She has heard about past incidents re Mr. Floyd. She can set that aside if not presented in court. She heard about two autopsies... and that one was due to asphyxiation and one was due to drugs. She can set that aside if not presented in court. She has relative that is Sheriff, and friends that are in medical profession.

She's talking about the "truck incident" that her son was at....on the 35 bridge.... DOH... what is that referring to? Anyone know? State exercises pre-emptory... SHE IS KICKED!

Defense passes for cause... and we move to State questions at 11:00 am eastern....

...........not done, I like this juror. Gonna be hard to kick for cause so far.

 

[JerseyGirl]

1st Juror up this AM, #86. Woman who followed #GeorgeFloyd news thoroughly from start. Subsequently heard about recent settlement, and the reaction to it from family & close contacts. Judge Cahill doesn't let her get to the attorney questioning phase. #86 DISMISSED FOR CAUSE.

https://twitter.com/paulblume_fox9/status/1372553965511008264?s=21

 

[JerseyGirl]

Next up potential Juror #87
- married with 5 adult children
- knows number of jurors selected this far but has not heard about settlement
- recognizes someone on witness who she believes works or BCA, might live in her neighborhood
#DerekChauvinTrial

https://twitter.com/leahbenofox9/status/1372555557723377668?s=21

 

[Niner]

Cathy Russon Retweeted
Julie Rendelman
@jrendelmanlaw
·
39m
Live in the courtroom for the #DerekChauvinTrial with host @jessecordweber
and @ggatlaw
. Prosecution presently seeking to introduce expert testimony that #GeorgeFloyd was not actually resisting arrest. Doesn’t sound like court will be letting such evidence in.

28m
Earlier: Arguments over what State expert Dr. Sarah Vinson, forensic psychiatrist, can testify about. State wants her to testify that Floyd had anxiety/panic attack, not resisting arrest. Defense motion to exclude this testimony. Judge to rule tomorrow.

28m
Now potential juror 86 in the courtroom. Female.

27m
Regarding this testimony, Judge Cahill said if he allows Dr. Vinson to testify about this it's likely he'll allow in the 2019 arrest video.

Quote Tweet
Cathy Russon
@cathyrusson
· 28m
#DerekChauvinTrial - Earlier: Arguments over what State expert Dr. Sarah Vinson, forensic psychiatrist, can testify about. State wants her to testify that Floyd had anxiety/panic attack, not resisting arrest. Defense motion to exclude this testimony. Judge to rule tomorrow.

24m
Judge is dismissing PJ86. She said she was leaning to the prosecution side and then heard about the settlement and now leans even more to prosecution.

6m
PJ87 - Female. Married with 5 adult children. When asked what she thought about the security around the courthouse she said it made her sad that "we're kind of in this state."

5m
PJ87 has never seen the video. She has seen still shots on news clips but has never viewed any video of #GeorgeFloyd arrest.

1m
PJ87 has not heard about the settlement. Her neighbor is a BCA agent (MN Bureau of Criminal Apprehension), but says that wouldn't impact her if she was a juror.

link: https://twitter.com/cathyrusson

 

[Niner]

Cathy Russon
@cathyrusson
·
20m
#DerekChauvinTrial - PJ87 says the city's reputation has taken a hit from the protests and she can't see anything positive that has come from them. When asked she does see a difference between peaceful protesting and rioting. Her son attended a peaceful protest.

15m
PJ87 says she has respect for police officers. When asked she said that doesn't mean she would necessarily believe officer testimony over bystander.

10m
On Black Lives Matter, PJ87 says that is a true statement, black lives do matter, but is critical of the organization she doesn't agree with it. As for Blue Lives Matter she wrote she checked "neutral" and said all lives matter.

9m
PJ87, defense passes for cause. State now up.

7m
PJ87 marked "somewhat agree" on discrimination isn't as bad as the media makes it out to be.
She thinks the media is not as unbias as they claim to be.

link: https://twitter.com/cathyrusson

 

[dixiegirl1035]

#87 was just kicked by the state. Why???? *scratches head* as I thought she would have been a good juror.

Judge reminds state that they have 4 strikes left.

Judge stops entrance of next juror to speak to the attys...

"I want to make counsel aware of something................... a variety of a number of members of the media want to know when more information will be released to the media". Judge says race and age decade of seated jurors is currently being released.... all the rest is not to be released at this time.

The release of questionnaires and names and contact info when he deems it safe to do so.

WHAT! They will release contact info later??????????? *goes back to rewind* for transcript in EXACT wording!!!

"We're currently releasing the race and the age decade of seated jurors. Everything else, because we have an anonymous jury, is remaining confidential, it is not being released publicly.

When it will be released publicly is up to the court and I have told Judge Barnett that I will order the release of the questionnaires and identifying information, a name not an address, perhaps a single contact method... email, text, whatever.. when I deem it safe to do so. That will be based mostly as you all know judges are very protective of our jurors, when I feel it is safe for our jurors I will release their information not before"


much more................ (11:23 am for those that want to find at source below)"

MOO - I didn't recall that questionnaires would be released. And contact information. EGADS! Perhaps has so much sensitive and personal information on such.... I probably would pull myself out of the selection ......... MOO

 

[shotgun09]

State used a strike on PJ 87

 

[Niner]

Cathy Russon
@cathyrusson
#DerekChauvinTrial - State uses their 6th strike to dismiss PJ87.

State: 6/10
Defense: 12/18

6m
PJ88, female. Heard news about the settlement, was initially shocked, but "brushed it off". Judge Cahill ordered audio off to ask the next question as he's afraid the question/answer may identify her.

link: https://twitter.com/cathyrusson


I'll wait about 15 minutes so I can copy/paste more tweets.... instead one of two.

 

[Niner]

Tomorrow is Chauvin's 45th birthday....

 

[shotgun09]

PJ 88 up next, excused for cause by the court

 

[dixiegirl1035]

The next juror was excused for cause by judge (unknown reason as was off audio, press not allowed to release info)

Break until 10 till hour...

 

[Niner]

PJ88 - Judge dismissed her for cause. Court is now on break until 10:50 CT/11:50 ET.

link: https://twitter.com/cathyrusson