MINNEAPOLIS: The trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin for the death of George Floyd was due to begin on Monday with the screening of jurors to weigh murder and manslaughter charges in a case seen as a referendum on police violence against Black Americans.
The judge has set aside three weeks for jury selection alone, mindful of the difficulties finding impartial Minneapolitans in a case that has convulsed a nation and in which an image of the victim — a selfie of Floyd faintly smiling — has fast become an international icon of racial justice.
The court mailed prospective jurors an unusually detailed 16-page questionnaire last year asking them what they know about Floyd's death on May 25 on the street after his arrest outside a Minneapolis grocery store.
Among the questions: Have they seen video of his death? Recorded on bystanders' cellphones and police body-worn cameras, they show Chauvin, who is white, with his knee on Floyd's neck for nearly nine minutes as Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man in handcuffs, pleads for his life before fading into stillness.
Have they taken part in the protests that followed? Video of Floyd's dying words - "I can't breathe" - spread online within hours, erupting in one of the largest protest movements ever seen in the United States, with daily marches in cities around the country decrying police brutality and racism.
And what do they think of Black Lives Matter? Chauvin's lawyers are expected to challenge the seating of jurors who show support for the movement against racism in the justice system.
Chauvin's lawyers have up to 15 peremptory challenges by which they can exclude a juror without having to cite a reason, while the prosecutors from the Minnesota attorney general's office have nine. If one side suspects the other is challenging a juror on the basis of their race, ethnicity or sex, they can ask the judge to overrule.
Some criminal justice experts fear the resulting 12 jurors and four alternates may not include any Black people and that this could undermine public perception of the validity of any eventual verdict.
About a fifth of Minneapolis residents are Black.
"What all of us should be wanting is a jury that represents the range of views and opinions and demographic characteristics of the community," Valerie Hans, a law professor at Cornell University who studies the jury system, said in an interview. "That should include people that maybe were in protests and have a variety of views on the related issues."
Chauvin, 44, is charged with second-degree murder, which carries a sentence of up to 40 years in prison, and manslaughter. On Friday, the Minnesota Court of Appeals ordered the lower court to reconsider prosecutors' request to also reinstate a third charge, third-degree murder. It was unclear whether that order might delay proceedings.
He will be tried in a courtroom in the Hennepin County Government Center, a tower in downtown Minneapolis now ringed with fencing and concrete barricades for fear of disruption by protesters. He was released from jail on a $1 million bond last October.
His lawyers have argued that Chauvin, who was fired from the police force the day after Floyd's death, correctly followed his training in helping colleagues arrest Floyd on suspicion of using a counterfeit $20 bill at the Cup Foods grocery store. A handcuffed Floyd can be seen in videos struggling against being placed in a police vehicle complaining he has claustrophobia.
The medical examiner ruled that Floyd's death was a homicide caused partly by police restraint holds. But the autopsy report also noted that Floyd had recently ingested the opioid fentanyl, and Chauvin's lawyers contend that an overdose was the main cause of death.
Reuters
Mon Mar 08 2021
Protesters raise their fists and chant after the "I Can't Breathe" Silent March for Justice a day before jury selection is scheduled to begin for the trial of Derek Chauvin. REUTERS pic
Pegawai, anggota bomba di lima negeri ada masalah kesihatan
Ujian Kemahiran Taktikal Kebombaan diduduki seramai 12,608 anggota dan pegawai dan hanya 9,313 sahaja yang lulus.
Kerajaan komited lahirkan lebih ramai teknousahawan
Anugerah Teknousahawan TVET@KKDW diperkenalkan bagi memberi pengiktirafan serta penghargaan kepada institusi, pengajar, pelajar, graduan dan alumni yang telah menunjukkan kecemerlangan dalam bidang keusahawanan TVET.
Kedah bakal bangunkan LRT di Langkawi
Kedah merancang membina sistem tren Transit Aliran Ringan (LRT) menggunakan teknologi levitasi magnet di Langkawi
Kes pedofilia MRSM Tumpat diklasifikasikan fitnah, tiada bukti kukuh
Kes pedofilia terhadap seorang guru Maktab Rendah Sains Mara di Tumpat diklasifikasikan sebagai fitnah selepas siasatan tidak menemui bukti kukuh berhubung kes itu, kata Ketua Polis Kelantan Datuk Muhamad Zaki Harun.
Kerajaan berusaha tangani inflasi, tingkat kuasa beli rakyat
Menurut Datuk Armizan Mohd Ali, kerajaan tidak berdiam diri dalam menangani masalah inflasi termasuk melalui pelaksanaan pelbagai bentuk intervensi seperti kawalan harga.
Keutamaan negara Asia Barat untuk penuhi hasrat rakyat Palestin
Sekiranya Palestin diberikan negara dan kebebasan, mana-mana pihak tidak perlu lagi campur tangan dan tidak ada lagi konflik di Timur Tengah.
WEF gemakan wawasan, keterbukaan Malaysia dalam tiga hasrat
Mesyuarat Khas Forum Ekonomi Dunia (WEF) menjadi platform untuk Malaysia menggemakan keterbukaan jalinan kerjasama untuk melonjakkan ekonomi negara.
Hari ketiga lawatan Perdana Menteri, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim di Riyadh Arab Saudi membawa wawasan Malaysia memperkasa hubungan bilateral antara negara, selain perbincangan mengenai pelaburan dan usaha memperkasa jalinan kerjasama sedia ada.
Hari ketiga lawatan Perdana Menteri, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim di Riyadh Arab Saudi membawa wawasan Malaysia memperkasa hubungan bilateral antara negara, selain perbincangan mengenai pelaburan dan usaha memperkasa jalinan kerjasama sedia ada.
Berita antarabangsa pilihan sepanjang hari ini
Antara pelbagai berita luar negara yang disiarkan di Astro AWANI, berikut adalah yang paling menjadi tumpuan sepanjang hari ini.
Berita tempatan pilihan sepanjang hari ini
Berikut adalah berita yang paling menjadi tumpuan sepanjang Isnin, 29 April 2024.
WEF gemakan wawasan, keterbukaan Malaysia melalui tiga hasrat
Malaysia mahu perkasa hubungan bilateral antara negara, selain perbincangan mengenai pelaburan dan usaha mengukuhkan jalinan kerjasama sedia ada.
Kanye West disaman RM1.18 bilion
West cuba mengaitkan kematian Floyd dengan pengambilan fentanyl.
Bekas polis Minneapolis dipenjara 3 tahun sebabkan kematian George Floyd
Bekas pegawai polis Minnesota, Minneapolis, Thomas Lane, dijatuhi hukuman penjara tiga tahun kerana menyebabkan kematian George Floyd.
Berita antarabangsa pilihan sepanjang hari ini
Antara pelbagai berita luar negara yang disiarkan di Astro AWANI, berikut adalah antara yang paling menjadi tumpuan sepanjang hari ini.
Kes George Floyd: Derek Chauvin dijangka tukar pengakuan kepada bersalah
Mahkamah Persekutuan menetapkan perbicaraan pertukaran pengakuan, sekali gus memberikan petunjuk Chauvin akan menukar pengakuannya kepada bersalah.
Pembunuhan Floyd: Derek Chauvin dijatuhi hukuman penjara 22 tahun 6 bulan
Chauvin, 45 tahun, disabitkan kesalahan pembunuhan tahap kedua dan tiga serta menyebabkan kematian manusia tahap kedua selepas prosiding perbicaraan.
Remaja perempuan rakam insiden kematian George Floyd menang Anugerah Khas Pulitzer
Video insiden lelaki Afrika-Amerika George Floyd yang maut akibat tindakan kejam seorang pegawai polis yang dirakam remaja perempuan Darnella Frazer menerima anugerah khas Hadiah Pulitzer 2021.
Peguam Derek Chauvin minta perbicaraan baharu, tuduh juri berat sebelah
Bekas pegawai polis Derek Chauvin meminta untuk dibicarakan semula, dakwa salah laku oleh seorang panel juri.
Berita antarabangsa pilihan sepanjang hari ini
Antara pelbagai berita luar negara yang disiarkan di Astro AWANI, berikut adalah antara yang paling menjadi tumpuan sepanjang hari ini.
Keputusan pembunuhan George Floyd langkah besar menentang perkauman - Biden
Biden memuji para pegawai polis yang memberi keterangan dalam perbicaraan dan tidak bersifat sebelah pihak dan berdiam diri.
Kes Floyd: Bekas polis Derek Chauvin dihukum penjara sehingga 40 tahun
Selain Chauvin, tiga lagi bekas pegawai polis masih dibicarakan atas tuduhan bersubahat membunuh.