In the wake of the city of Minneapolis' settlement with George Floyd's family, a judge has dismissed two seated jurors from Derek Chauvin's murder trial.
Chauvin, a former Minneapolis police officer, is facing murder and manslaughter charges over the killing of Floyd in May 2020, and last week, it was announced that Minneapolis had reached a $27 million settlement with Floyd's family. On Wednesday, Judge Peter Cahill dismissed two jurors from Chauvin's trial after questioning those who had been previously seated about news of the settlement, NBC News reports.
One of the jurors reportedly told the judge the settlement would make it difficult for him to be impartial in the case and confirmed "my opinion that I already had." Meanwhile, another juror said that the "sticker price obviously shocked me and swayed me a little bit" and suggested to him that "the city of Minneapolis felt that something was wrong and they wanted to make it right." Seven jurors remained seated in the trial after these two were dismissed.
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Chauvin's attorney had previousy requested that the trial be delayed and moved to a new location in light of the settlement announcement, arguing it has "incredible potential to taint the jury pool." The judge at the time reportedly agreed that the news could potentially impact the case and promised to re-interview the jurors, also saying he wishes city officials "would stop talking about this case so much," though he added that "I don't find any evil intent that they're trying to tamper with this criminal case."
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