From Friday:
Jury selection will be one by one, on the witness stand. The judge said he anticipates the jurors will complete questionnaires ahead of time.
COVID-19 restrictions are expected to be in place during the trial, and there will be overflow rooms for family and press.
There is expected to be a two-week jury selection and a four-week trial.
Assistant Attorney General Matthew Frank presented an argument for an upward sentence departure, stating George Floyd was particularly vulnerable because he was handcuffed and pinned to the ground.
Documents covering two prior incidents—one at Hennepin County Medical Center (HCMC) and another in Harris County, Texas—involving George Floyd have been brought forward for consideration. The judge has denied the request to consider the Harris County incident, citing irrelevance to this case. He has has also denied the request to consider the HCMC incident, but it could come up at a later date.
Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman and several of the assistant attorneys "are potential witnesses due to their interviews of Hennepin County Medical Examiner Dr. Andrew Baker, regarding his autopsy of George Floyd without having a non-attorney witness present." As a result, the judge has decided Freeman and those assistant attorneys are off the case. The judge has not disqualified other attorneys or staff members from the Hennepin County Attorney's Office from the case.
The next agenda item under discussion is whether to sequester the jury. The judge thinks, "it would be almost cruel to keep them on weeks at a time" and suggested they be "semi-sequestered." That would involve jurors driving to court each day, being escorted by deputies from their vehicles and up a secure elevator, having lunch brought in to them, then having them escorted back to their vehicles at the end of the day. The judge said he believes there will be "significant" attempts to influence the jury if it is not anonymous. The judge cites receiving a "barrage of calls" from members of the public giving him advice about this motion's hearing.
The latest agenda item was discussion about a potential change of venue. The judge said there is no deadline for this motion. Meanwhile the judge suggested sending a questionnaire to potential jurors to address pre-trial publicity. This would include questions about what juror members have potentially seen or read related to the case as well as questions about whether that has prompted them to have "made up (their) mind(s)" about the case. Attorneys representing the officers have objected to the questionnaire, calling it "inappropriate" to rely on as well as "ripe for problems." the judge said if information from Hennepin County jurors is obtained first, they can determine whether pre-trial publicity has influenced the pool. If it hasn't, he says they don't need to look elsewhere.
Attorney Earl Gray, who is representing former officer Thomas Lane, is disagreeing with the state's argument that jurors could be prejudiced if there are separate trials. Gray said if former officer Derek Chauvin is tried first and acquitted, the other officers likely wouldn't go to trial. The judge is taking the rejoinder motion under advisement.
Tentative 2-week jury selection, 4-week trial format for George Floyd case