Floyd trial legitimacy hinges on jury being racially representative

Jury selection for former police officer Derek Chauvin’s trial on murder charges in the death of George Floyd is slated to occur this week in Minneapolis, Minnesota, even as proceedings have been delayed due to the potential inclusion of an additional charge. 

Valerie Hans, professor of law at Cornell Law School, has conducted extensive research and written widely on juries. She says the legitimacy of the verdict depends on the jury for being racially representative.

Hans says:

“Jury selection in this high-profile case is going to be extremely difficult. It will be very hard to find people who have not seen the video of George Floyd’s death, and equally challenging to find people who do not have strong opinions one way or another.

“Even so, jury selection is perhaps the most critical part of this trial. It is vital to seat a racially representative jury – important for the jury’s fact finding, and important for the legitimacy of the jury’s eventual verdict.”