Something I've been contemplating about Derek Chauvin...

[brooklynite]

Horrific as his behavior was, he still deserves a fair trial. How do you find an unbiased jury?

[JI7]

1. That can be said about anyone.

[KWR65]

2. It won't be hard. Not everyone follows crimes in the news.

Lawyers always think that their case is the most important case in the world, but the truth is that potential jurors are busy with their own lives before showing up for jury duty.

[PJMcK]

3. Excellent point but here's a caveat

Most jury trials require a unanimous verdict. Isn't it possible that there could be a juror or two who will hold secret racist views? Only one or two people can hang a jury.

A second point is that the prosecution of law enforcement officers is very difficult. This article by former US Attorney Barbara McQuade details these difficulties:

https://www.thedailybeast.com/this-is-why-its-so-tough-to-charge-let-alone-convict-a-killer-cop

We're in for some very complex times, I fear.

[brooklynite]

4. The purpose of VOIR DIRE is to unearth those biases...

A good Prosecutor's office know how to dig for that information.

[ProfessorGAC]

14. Good Point

The jury I was on in March asked about prospective jurors ever being a crime victim. I said yes. (Car break in in the 80s, parents' house, getting my TV and stereo in the 70s).
I got called back in, asked about details. Judge asked me straight out if I understood that I couldn't get revenge over that crime or hold those events against the current defendant. Couple questions more. Nothing specific to race, but if was a "hang 'em all" type, they would have likely figured it out.
BTW: we found the guy not guilty in about 20 minutes.

[MaryMagdaline]

5. Decent people will say they've made up their minds; racists will say they are neutral

This is how we keep getting pro-police brutality juries and pro-death penalty juries

[Nevilledog]

11. You only get people who support the Death Penalty on death penalty trials.

So you're only entitled to a jury of your peers who are willing to kill you.
They "death qualify" the jury.

[MaryMagdaline]

19. Yep

[AlexSFCA]

6. nothing as perfect but Minneapolis is not the worst of places

to find competent jury. I trust the process. I hope not all jurors will be white though.

[hlthe2b]

7. There has been a decades-long reason why juries rarely convict police officers--no matter the crime

or evidence. So there IS bias both ways. Still, it surely opens the door for a change of venue outside Minneapolis.

[davsand]

17. Where could they move the trial to that hasn't seen news about the case?

Unless the jury pool has been stranded in the remote forest of Managuadore (yeah, I know there's no such place!) I highly doubt it would be possible to seat a jury that is completely free of an opinion at this point.

I've always wondered how a defense attorney could deal with a case where the accusation is of a crime that is especially awful or has been highly publicized. We had a crime locally that was ultimately tried as an abduction and murder of a Chinese student. It began as a missing person report, morphed into vigils, and ultimately became an arrest based on evidence obtained with surveillance and security video footage of the abduction. They never found the body.

I have never talked to any of the police or lawyers that were involved in that case, but I have wondered if an impartial jury was even possible given how much media attention the case had.

I truly have those same reservations in the Floyd case.


Laura

[hlthe2b]

18. Change of venue typically is merely another city within the state (except for Federal cases)

The point is not to remove all knowledge of the case--or even most of it, but to diminish the "heat" associated among the community where it occurred.

Crimes with high attention and community emotion are prosecuted all the time--even without change of venue. The fact that conviction requires a unanimous jury is and has always been the most important protection against bias.

I would be remiss if I did not also mention that the defense has the right to request a trial by judge, rather than jury. That is also a not infrequent response to avoid the media attention that any jury would be unable to ignore.

[Captain Zero]

20. New country song:

To the tune of Little Green Apples.

He won't be acquitted in Minneapolis,
So they might move it to Indianapolis,
In the winter time.

Apologies to Roger Miller.

[lame54]

8. So did George Floyd

[smirkymonkey]

21. +1000

I could really give a damn about whether Derek Chauvin gets justice or not. I suppose he is entitled to it under the law, but he didn't really give a damn about the law when he murdered Mr. Floyd. I just don't give a shit about him and I hope he gets life in prison. In fact, it wouldn't really upset me all that much if he was given the death penalty.

Fuck him. I hope he burns in hell.

[Ritabert]

9. The verdict is obvious to us

But the defense will try to smear the victim claiming he was on drugs or struggling.

[LizBeth]

10. I can easily be unbiased though I stand with the black community. Personally, I do not think

it is that hard to compartmentalize. It is for some. Not so much for others. It is not a matter if you have heard about the event, or even know a great deal, or believe a certain thing when stepping in. It is an ability to listen to what is presented and going off that info.

[mnmoderatedem]

12. I've been wondering about a change of venue

I'm sure the defense is going to argue that the local jurisdiction population is heavily biased and that the trial needs to be moved to get a neutral jury.

[scrabblequeen40]

13. since he's white, his odds are defnitely better

than if he were black.

[RobinA]

15. Bench Trial?

Although that might have its own perils.

[dsc]

16. actually in this case I think it is less of a problem than

in high profile cases where the crime isn't on tape. The thing that would be causing bias will surely be in evidence anyway. I will concede that I can't think of what would convince me he is innocent after having seen that tape but that would be no less true if instead of having seen it now, I saw it in court for the first time. It may be less true actually as the first time you see something like that it is utterly horrible and shocking, you eventually get used to it.

[Crunchy Frog]

22. Cops almost never get fair trials. That's why they almost always get away with murder.

If he gets a fairer trial then George Floyd did, he should be grateful.