WATCH LIVE: Derek Chauvin goes on trial for George Floyd’s death
The first murder trial in a case that sparked worldwide protests against police brutality and systemic racism was to set to begin Monday, more than nine months after a horrifying cellphone video sent shock waves around the nation and abroad.
Jury selection in the trial of ex-Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who was caught on tape pressing his knee on George Floyd’s neck for several minutes, was expected to start at 9 a.m., but it was postponed for at least a day as prosecutors try to reinstate a third charge against the suspect. The process was likely to last at least three weeks, with opening arguments scheduled to begin on March 29.
The Floyd and Chauvin families will each get one seat in the courtroom, which can be rotated throughout the trial. The proceedings will also be live-streamed on several websites, including Court TV, local news station Fox 9 and Star Tribune’s YouTube channel. No jurors or prospective jurors will be shown on camera.
The trial will take place on the 18th floor of the Hennepin County Government Center in downtown Minneapolis, where numerous businesses were boarded up in anticipation of protests in the area. Hundreds of demonstrators marked the beginning of the trial by leading a march through the city Sunday night and reading the names of Minnesotans killed by police in the past 20 years.
Chauvin, who is white, was one of four officers at the scene when Floyd died on Memorial Day last year. He was the one seen on top of the unarmed Black man for nearly nine lethal minutes as Floyd begged for his life, repeatedly pleading, “I can’t breathe.”
Chauvin was fired and charged with second-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. His three co-defendants are expected to be tried later this year.
Prosecutors on Monday tried to postpone Chauvin’s trial because of an ongoing appeal regarding a potential new charge against him. The former officer was initially charged with third-degree murder last year, but the charge was dropped after defense attorneys successfully argued it lacked probable cause. A Minnesota appeals court ruled last week that a lower court should consider reinstating that charge, which could potentially take the case to the state Supreme Court.
At a pre-trial hearing Monday, Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill reluctantly agreed that prosecutors had a right to ask the appeals court for an emergency stay of the proceedings. The hearing was set to resume at 1:30 p.m., Central time, with jury selection rescheduled for Tuesday morning.
The city and Floyd’s family were bracing for an intense few weeks as the highly anticipated trial is likely to drive international attention.
“Imagine losing a loved one and having to sit through something like this. All by itself it’s enough. Now imagine the whole world is watching,” Tera McGee Brown, a first cousin who lived with Floyd when they were children, told the Daily News.
“There’s a lot of emotion and anxiety building up,” she said. “We know it’s going to be hard, having to watch it all play out, having to relive everything all over again... We’re all relying on each other, leaning on each other.”
