LIVE UPDATES: Jury selected in federal trial for 3 ex-officers charged in George Floyd’s death
From left: Thomas Lane, J. Alexander Kueng and Tou Thao[Hennepin County Sheriff's Office]
5 p.m.
Magnuson returns at 4:37 p.m. and calls for the selected jurors to be brought in. "Members of the jury, you may be seated. And that’s precisely what you are (a jury)," he says.
He thanks them, pledges they’re almost done for the day. He then orders them to not talk about the case with anyone … "or post on social media, whatever that is."
At 4:45 p.m., attorneys ask Magnuson to read the selected juror numbers before they go in recess.
Of the 12 selected jurors, five are men, seven are women. The six alternates are split evenly between men and women.
After doing so, the court is in recess at 4:48 p.m.
4:35 p.m.
Magnuson returns at 4:22 p.m. and attorneys hand him a list. Magnuson says they have a jury.
They all agree the best method is to bring the 18 selected jurors into the courtroom before taking them to the clerk to get set for the trial. It’s still unclear which jurors have been selected and which side used strikes on which jurors.
Magnuson also tells the attorneys they should all meet at 10 a.m. Friday to discuss some matters.
At 4:28 p.m., Magnuson leaves to get the selected jurors.
3:15 p.m.
Magnuson comes back to the microphone at 2:38 p.m. and announces that he’s stricken two jurors. An attorney noted they were due to "law enforcement issues."
The judge then asks a few individual jurors questions but none have any issues. However, one juror is asked about a tragedy in his family and the judge notes it’s a "tough situation." The juror agrees and is excused.
With that, the 23 remaining jurors are provisionally approved and, thanks to a pool of 43 jurors approved on the day, Magnuson and the attorneys note they can start using strikes to set the jury.
First, Magnuson calls a recess for an unspecified length of time to inform jurors who aren’t needed that they can go home.
2:15 p.m.
Judge Magnuson returns at 12:50 p.m. and calls the panel of jurors back into the room after they’ve reviewed the list of potential witnesses. None have any issues and the group of 20 — Magnuson later put on the record that he excused one man but didn’t provide a reason — is provisionally approved. They are then allowed to leave the room and another panel of 27 jurors is called in at 1:05 p.m.
After welcoming the jurors, introducing them to the parties involved and asking if anyone can’t serve due to another obligation, Magnuson excuses a woman due to a scheduled infusion. Two others express concerns but aren’t excused.
Each juror then gives a brief background of themselves and, after about 30 minutes, the judge notes that Chauvin’s case is separate and can’t factor into this one. He then tells the jurors to go look at the list of potential witnesses while he and the attorneys have a sidebar.
12:30 p.m.
Judge Magnuson returns to the microphone at 11:47 a.m. and apologizes for the long delay. He notes the difficulty in this case after Chauvin’s state trial but reiterates that Chauvin isn’t the defendant in this case and must be kept separately with these defendants presumed innocent.
He then excuses the woman from earlier who lost her husband, saying he’s decided that’s a very difficult situation. She’s the eighth juror excused.
He then asks several individual jurors questions about remaining impartial. The only juror who expresses concern is a man who is asked about his faith-based answers in his questionnaires. He says his faith wouldn’t affect his impartiality but, during the break, he reflected on his relationship with his best friend, who’s a police officer. He says he now doesn’t think he could be impartial. He’s the ninth juror excused.
Magnuson then provisionally excuses the remaining jurors to look at a list of potential witnesses and make sure they don’t know any of them. Court is put in recess until 12:45 p.m.
11:15 a.m.
Seven jurors have been dismissed early on the first day of jury selection, so far.
After the group of 30 was sworn in, Judge Magnuson asks the group if anyone knows any of the prosecutors, defense attorneys or former officers involved in this case. One man says he has family members in the FBI and is the first juror excused.
Magnuson then asks each juror to briefly give a background of themselves and note if they would like to change any of their answers on the juror questionnaire.
That takes roughly half an hour, and Magnuson then notes Chauvin pleaded guilty but that can’t affect jurors in this case and the defendants are presumed innocent. After going over a few more notes about juror impartiality, several jurors express concerns.
One man says he hasn’t watched the Floyd video in six months and won’t watch it again. Magnuson asks if he can be impartial and the man says he can but says he won’t watch the video if it’s played in court. He’s then excused.
A woman then says she’s struggling with impartiality because she believes police are supposed to protect citizens. She’s the third juror excused.
At this point, Magnuson seems to realize several others are going to express similar concerns and explains that if the jurors were asked about whether or not the Vikings should’ve fired their coach, there would be disagreement. He notes a trial is about setting those opinions aside, taking in the evidence and judging only on that. He says people who can do that would be good jurors.
The next juror says she’s struggled watching anything regarding death since her husband died. Magnuson sympathizes with her but asks if she’d be able to do it and be impartial. Her voice cracks as she gets emotional but says she thinks she can be impartial but, "I just don’t know how you can force someone to watch that." She remains on the panel.
The line of jurors with concerns continues, the next saying there was a criminal incident in her community in November and she doesn’t believe she could be impartial. She’s the fourth juror excused.
Another juror says she has a nephew who is a police officer; she’s excused.
The next juror says she has feeling about police officers, watched the entire Chauvin trial and watched all of the videos, adding that she doesn’t believe she could be impartial. Magnuson recognizes many jurors may feel this way and adds that the trial requires a fair jury but does need a jury. He then excuses the juror.
The final juror wishing to express a concern says, because of his culture, country of origin, color and faith, he doesn’t believe he could be impartial. Magnuson says the trial has nothing to do with any of those things. However, the man says he doesn’t believe he could be impartial and Magnuson makes him the seventh juror excused.
At 10:53 a.m., the judge explains he needs to have a sidebar with the attorneys and allows the jurors to stretch. At 11:16 a.m, Magnuson briefly comes back to the microphone and tells jurors they can take a bathroom break but must not discuss the case at all.
The federal trial for three former Minneapolis police officers charged in the death of George Floyd began Thursday morning.
Thomas Lane, J Alexander Kueng and Tou Thao are charged with depriving Floyd of his rights while acting under government authority on May 25, 2020. Former officer Derek Chauvin pleaded guilty in December to a federal count of violating Floyd’s civil rights during the arrest.
Judge Paul. A Magnuson called the court into session at 9:37 a.m. Thursday for the start of jury selection.
A group of 30 jurors was sworn in and Magnuson then introduced them to the attorneys and officers. He explained to the jurors that the trial is expected to last about four weeks but noted there’s no way to know exactly how long it’ll last.
Magnuson then began questioning the jurors at 9:51 a.m.
This story will continue to be updated throughout the day as the trial proceeds. Stay with 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS on air and online for the latest coverage.