Jury selection resumed Thursday morning in the trial of Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis Police officer charged in George Floyd's death, with nine jurors already seated for the trial which is set to begin on March 29.
On Wednesday, two jurors were dismissed by Judge Peter Cahill after he questioned each of the already selected jurors about last week's $27 million settlement between the City of Minneapolis and the family of George Floyd.
The jury selection seems to be going rather smoothly, thought, according to University of Minnesota Law Professor Richard Frase.
"I don't think anyone expected to have nine jurors seated by now," Frase said on the WCCO Radio Morning News with Dave Lee. "We have a good mix on this jury in terms of gender, along with race and ethnicity."
Judge Cahill is expected to rule Friday on motions by Chauvin's defense team to delay the trial or move the trial out of Hennepin County.
"Moving the trial out of Hennepin County is not only terribly inconvenient, but I think you'll have to start the jury selection over if it's very far away," Frase said. "The good thing about a Hennepin County jury rather than a jury far away from Minneapolis is that it is where the crime occurred. It's going to be a more representative and diverse jury than what you'd get in the state."
Court was expected to resume on Thursday began at 8:30 a.m.
Judge Cahill said Thursday he would announce Friday whether to allow none, some, or all of the evidence from Floyd's 2019 arrest to be used during the trial.
Cahill had previously ruled that Floyd's 2019 arrest was irrelevant to the case.
