Day Seven: No new jurors selected for Derek Chauvin trial; seated jurors to be addressed about knowledge of city settlement

On Tuesday, no new jurors selected to serve on the jury for the Derek Chauvin trial. The court saw seven individuals throughout the morning and afternoon, five of them were dismissed by Judge Peter Cahill.

Two peremptory challenge strikes were used by defense attorney Eric Nelson. The defense and state prosecution team now have four each remaining for the jury-selection process.

The jury still consists of nine individuals as of Tuesday. Five men and two women were dismissed.

Derek Chauvin trial: Get to know the jurors

The first three would-be jurors included two women who are currently going through some life changes, relating to work and other things. Both of them advised the judge they didn’t want to participate, then Cahill excused them. A man, who said he currently works at a software company that is partnered with a local news media outlet, said he has seen just about every update on this case. That man was also released by Cahill.

After a morning break, two peremptory challenge strikes were used by the defense. One man acknowledged his negative perception towards Chauvin and Floyd because of how he perceived the viral video of Floyd’s death, along with him stating that Floyd was on drugs. The man also acknowledged how Black people are "mistreated" by law enforcement and saw both "good and bad" when it came to the protests.

Another man had a strike used against him by the defense. He acknowledged the settlement that was announced Friday and further stated he would be more concerned if there was a "not guilty" verdict.

Nelson later argued that the court should "give back" a strike to them on the previous would-be juror, but the judge denied the motion. State prosecutor Steve Schleicher called the situation "overblown," as the defense wanted the strike back solely due to the person’s knowledge of the settlement. The state prosecutor said that only three of 14 jurors questioned knew about it up to that point.

One juror — identified as Juror No. 70 — was excused from Tuesday’s session, saying her duties were "postponed." The judge did not clarify what that meant.

The final two jurors took up most of the time, with both of them ending up being dismissed by the judge.

A detailed look at what happened Tuesday in court

Wednesday, some big decisions could be made with the trial after the announcement of the Floyd family settlement on Friday with the city. The city agreed to pay $27 million to the family, with $500,000 of that will go to the community at 38th Street and Chicago Avenue.

Cahill granted the defense’s request to bring back jurors selected before the settlement news. The judge will re-question seven jurors Wednesday morning. The judge said at the conclusion of Tuesday’s court session that this would be conducted over a Zoom call.

The defense is worried the news of the city’s civil settlement could impact the jury pool.

"You have the city settling a civil lawsuit for a record amount of money and the pre-trial publicity is just so concerning," Nelson said.

Potential jurors are now being screened for possible knowledge of the civil settlement.

"I think this $27 million dollar settlement has frankly… been overblown," Schleicher said.