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Derek Chauvin begins trial for George Floyd's death

2021-03-09T06:25:28.707Z


The trial for the death of George Floyd, which sparked a worldwide movement against racism, will begin with the selection of the jury.


Trial Begins By George Floyd 3:19

(CNN) -

George Floyd's death, which sparked a worldwide movement against racism, will take center stage in a heavily fortified Minneapolis courtroom on Monday.

Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, died on May 25, 2020, after Derek Chauvin, then a Minneapolis police officer, placed his knee on Floyd's neck for nearly eight minutes as Floyd pleaded. I can't breathe.

His final moments were captured on video and his death sparked widespread protests against police brutality and racism under the banner Black Lives Matter, as well as incidents of rioting and looting.

Chauvin has pleaded not guilty to the charges of second degree manslaughter and second degree manslaughter.

Additionally, a third-degree murder charge that was dropped in October is now in limbo after an appeals court ruled that the trial judge should reconsider a motion to reinstate it.

  • Judge drops a manslaughter charge against former police officer Derek Chauvin in George Floyd's death, but the charge of manslaughter remains

This reveals body cameras on George Floyd's arrest 2:58

Jury selection at the trial was delayed Monday through Tuesday at the Hennepin County Government Center as the court tries to decide how to proceed with that pending appeal.

Once it begins, jury selection is expected to last around three weeks, and opening statements are expected to begin no earlier than March 29 and take two to four weeks.

What will the selection of the jury be like?

In a case with so much media attention, it may be impossible to find a jury that has not heard about Floyd's death.

But the goal is not to find ignorant people;

is to find juries who can be impartial and open to hearing evidence and the law.

"No matter what a prospective juror has seen or heard, can you put that aside and base your decision on evidence in court and the law the judge gives you?" Said Mary Moriarty, former chief public defender of the Hennepin County.

In December, prospective jurors were sent a 16-page questionnaire asking for their views on the Black Lives Matter protests, their views on surveillance, and their personal interactions with the police.

Starting Monday, some potential jurors who completed the questionnaire will be questioned one by one in court in a process known as voir dire.

The name, address and other information of the jury will remain anonymous.

The judge will first ask questions of the prospective juror, followed by the defense and then the prosecution.

If the defense or prosecution believes that the person cannot be impartial in the case, they can ask the court to dismiss the person for good cause.

Each side has unlimited challenges for a cause.

Prosecutors and defense attorneys can also act to dismiss potential jurors without cause, using what is called a peremptory challenge.

Chauvin's team has 15 of these challenges and the prosecution has nine, according to the court.

However, these peremptory challenges can be challenged if they are based on race, ethnicity, or sex, known as the Batson challenge.

The process continues until the court decides on up to 16 people, divided into 12 jurors and up to four alternates.

Who is who in the trial?

George Floyd's death sparked widespread protests against police brutality and racism.

George Floyd, 46, was born in North Carolina and raised in Houston and moved to Minnesota as an adult to start over, landing a job as a security guard at a restaurant.

On May 25, 2020, police received a call from a man who had used a counterfeit $ 20 bill at a Minneapolis store.

Officers proceeded to a parked car with Floyd in the driver's seat, handcuffed him and moved to put him in the back of a police car, according to the amended complaint.

Two other officers, including Chauvin, later responded to the scene and fought to get Floyd into the vehicle, according to the complaint.

Chauvin allegedly threw Floyd to the ground in a prone position and placed his knee on Floyd's neck and head.

His knee remained there even when Floyd pleaded, "I can't breathe," said "I'm about to die," and eventually stopped breathing, the complaint says.

He was pronounced dead in a hospital shortly after.

The Hennepin County Medical Examiner's autopsy listed the cause of death as heart failure "complicating neck subdulation, restraint and compression," and called it a homicide.

The forensic physician also noted atherosclerotic and hypertensive heart disease;

Fentanyl poisoning;

and recent methamphetamine use as "other major conditions."

Medical examiners hired by Floyd's family also ruled it a homicide, but said Floyd died of "sustained pressure asphyxia" during the arrest.

Derek Chauvin, 44, had been an agent with the Minneapolis Police Department from 2001 until he was fired in the wake of Floyd's death.

He was the subject of at least 18 previous complaints, two of which were "closed with disciplinary calls," according to a public summary of internal affairs by the Department.

A motion to dismiss the charges filed last August anticipated his possible defense.

In that filing, his attorney argued that Chauvin had no intention of harming Floyd while restraining him, that he was acting within police policy, and that Floyd's cause of death was the result of a drug overdose and other health problems. existing.

Thomas Lane, J. Alexander Kueng and Tou Thao

, all

former

Minneapolis police officers, were also on the scene with Chauvin and are charged with aiding and abetting second degree murder and aiding and inciting second degree murder.

They have pleaded not guilty.

Due to limits on courtroom space due to the pandemic, their joint trial moved to this summer.

They will not testify at Chauvin's trial, but their names, statements and actions will be highlighted.

  • Prison officers say they were forbidden to go to the apartment where Derek Chauvin is being held because of his skin color

Eric Nelson

is Chauvin's defense attorney and will represent him at trial.

He is part of the Halberg Criminal Defense group and has worked exclusively in criminal defense since he was admitted to the bar association, according to his online biography.

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison's office says the three top attorneys for the prosecution are Jerry Blackwell, Matthew Frank and Steve Schleicher.

Peter Cahill is the Hennepin County Judge overseeing the case.

He was first appointed to the bank in 2007 and has been re-elected to the position three times since, most recently last November.

What you need to understand about the charges

Chauvin is charged with second degree manslaughter and second degree manslaughter.

The second degree unintentional murder charge alleges that Chauvin killed Floyd "unintentionally" while committing or attempting to commit a felony third degree assault, which is defined as inflicting "substantial" bodily harm.

The charge is punishable by up to 40 years in prison.

The second-degree murder charge alleges that Chauvin caused Floyd's death by "his culpable negligence, creating an unreasonable risk, and knowingly taking the risk of causing death or great bodily harm."

"Guilty negligence" is essentially an intensified form of ordinary negligence, Moriarty explained.

The charge is punishable by up to 10 years in prison.

A previous charge of third degree murder was dismissed in October because the judge ruled that it did not apply to this case.

The Minnesota Court of Appeals ruled Friday that the judge should reconsider the state's motion to reinstate the third-degree murder charge.

On Monday, the state decided to hold off jury selection until the appeal is resolved, but Judge Cahill ruled against it.

The state then decided to appeal that decision, so Cahill moved the start of jury selection to Tuesday to see if the court can proceed.

This is how the police accused in the George Floyd case defend themselves 2:08

This is how the pandemic changed the trial

The possibility of a COVID-19 outbreak looms in the courtroom, so the court has taken a number of steps to prevent it.

Everyone who attends Chauvin's trial will be required to distance themselves from others and wear a mask, although witnesses and attorneys may remove their masks during testimony and other court statements.

Plexiglass has also been installed around the courtroom.

Additionally, the trial will be broadcast live for those unable to attend, a first for a Minnesota criminal trial.

Only one member of Floyd's family and Chauvin's family will be able to attend the trial due to the COVID-19 restrictions.

For each family, a different family member can rotate through that court position with the appropriate credentials, the judge ruled.

During the trial, the jurors will be partially kidnapped during the day, but allowed to return to their homes at night.

They will be completely isolated during deliberations.

How the police are preparing

Given the riots and looting that occurred when Floyd died, state and local authorities are taking significant security measures.

The Hennepin County Government Center is now surrounded by fences and barricades, and the building will be empty, apart from those involved in Chauvin's trial and approved staff.

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said the city is preparing for potential riots with "minute detail."

He said up to 2,000 National Guard members will be prepared to respond along with up to 1,100 clustered law enforcement officers from 12 other jurisdictions.

"Safety is the top priority at this very difficult time in our city," Frey said last month.

“There is great frustration, anxiety and trauma.

We anticipate that trauma will increase as we get closer to the jury deliberations. "

Last month, Minnesota law enforcement leaders outlined their plan to work together to provide security during the trial in what they called "Operation Safety Net."

Minnesota State Patrol Col. Matt Langer said the goal is to protect legal protests and demonstrations while preventing violence, property damage, fires and looting.

"Planning for this operation started in July," Langer said.

"It happened seriously all summer."

Operation Safety Net is organized in four phases, according to Langer: (1) Planning and preparation, (2) jury selection;

(3) closing arguments, deliberations, and verdict;

and (4) demobilization.

Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo said the unified command will help everyone stay on the same page.

"It will allow all of us to be able to respond at the metropolitan and regional level, if necessary, and it will allow great coordination of cooperation and communication," he said.

Minnesota Department of Public Safety Commissioner John Harrington said last month that all the actions were precautionary.

"At this time, we do not have any current actionable intelligence on the groups planning to come here to disrupt the trial or cause disorder," Harrington said.

"We are exercising this unified command as a precaution."

- CNN's Chris Boyette, Aaron Cooper, Omar Jimenez and Brad Parks contributed to this report.

Derek ChaGeorge Floyd

Source: cnnespanol

All news articles on 2021-03-09

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