A judge on Friday rejected a motion to delay or move the murder trial for Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer charged in the death of George Floyd. This comes after Chauvin’s defense team argued it would be unfair to keep his trial in Minneapolis after the city announced last week that it would pay Floyd’s family a $27 million wrongful death settlement.
The defense argued that the size of the settlement could taint the opinions of the jury, thereby increasing odds that Chauvin could be found guilty. Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill on Wednesday dismissed two jurors who said they could no longer be impartial after the historic settlement was announced. In spite of that, Cahill said, “I don’t think there’s any place in the state of Minnesota that has not been subjected to extreme amounts of publicity in this case. …With that, we’ll continue with jury selection in this case and in this county.”
Chauvin is facing charges of second-degree murder, third-degree murder and manslaughter for the death of Floyd on May 25, 2020. Once footage of the Memorial Day incident surfaced, Floyd’s death sparked protests against police violence and systemic racism around the world. The remaining three officers charged in Floyd’s death are expected to face trial in August.