Opening Statements Start Monday In Federal Trial Of Ex-Officers Involved In George Floyd's Death
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- The trial of three former officers accused in George Floyd's death gets underway Monday in federal court in St. Paul.
Tou Thao, Thomas Lane and J. Alexander Kueng are accused of violating Floyd's civil rights. Derek Chauvin pleaded guilty in his federal case last month.
Jury selection took just one day. Judge Paul Magnuson put the process in overdrive by questioning the jurors himself. Like the jurors in the state trial of Chauvin, these jurors are not being named.
While the federal court is not releasing demographic information about the jurors like the state court did, we know there are some big differences in the jury pool. Have of the jurors in Chauvin's state case were people of color. But it appears that just one of the 12 jurors and one of the six alternates in this case are people of color. Both of those jurors appear to have Asian heritage.
While five of the jurors are from Hennepin and Ramsey counties, seven are from outlying counties. How much does the racial and geographic makeup of this jury matter? And which side does it help? WCCO asked criminal defense attorney Joe Tamburino, who is not affiliated with the case.
"It will probably help the defense and here is why. In outstate Minnesota there's really not a lot of issues surrounding the police and communities," Tamburino said. "Whereas in the cities we do see that."
The three defendants are expected to pin the blame on Chauvin. Two of the former officers -- Lane and Kueng -- were on the force for just days. They are expected to argue they were following orders.
Former officer Thao, who kept bystanders from intervening, is expected to argue he never touched Floyd. On the other hand, the prosecution will argue the two rookies helped hold Floyd down, and that Thao kept bystanders -- including a Minneapolis firefighter -- from aiding Floyd.
