By AMY FORLITI Associated Press
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A coalition of news media outlets has asked the judge who oversaw the trial of Derek Chauvin to release the identities of jurors who convicted him in the death of George Floyd, saying there is no known threat to juror safety that would warrant keeping their names sealed.
Chauvin was found guilty of murder and manslaughter in April and was sentenced to 22 1/2 years.
In this image taken from video, former Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin, right, accompanied by defense attorney Eric Nelson, addresses the court as Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill presides over Chauvin’s sentencing, Friday, June 25, 2021, at the Hennepin County Courthouse in Minneapolis. Chauvin faces decades in prison for the May 2020 death of George Floyd. (Court TV via AP, Pool)
Attorneys for the coalition, which includes The Associated Press, asked Judge Peter Cahill in a court filing Wednesday to immediately unseal the identities of the jurors as well as the prospective juror list, juror profiles, questionnaires and unredacted juror forms. Cahill kept the jurors’ identities secret, but said he would make their names public when he deemed it safe.
Attorney Leita Walker said the media and public have a right to information about a jury. She acknowledged this case was high profile, but said anonymous juries are rare and only allowed in exceptional circumstances, such as in cases involving gangs or organized crime.
Walker wrote that Chauvin’s trial is over “and there is no way that jurors’ fears of intimidation, harassment, or violence can unfairly impact their deliberations.” She also wrote that the coalition knows of no threat to any juror or prospective juror, noting that two jurors and an alternate have already come forward.
She said the court’s desire to protect jurors from unwanted publicity or harassment are not grounds to keep their identities sealed under law.
>>>WATCH FULL TRIAL ON DEMAND: MN v. DEREK CHAUVIN (2021)
She said the media does not make light of concerns about possible unrest if the public had disagreed with the jury’s verdict, but that “much has changed in the months since the jury rendered that verdict, and at this juncture, resistance to releasing their names appears based on little more than a desire to have them left alone. That’s not enough.”
It is not clear when Cahill will rule on the request. Names of jurors and other data such as questionnaires normally become public soon after trials end in Minnesota.
In her filing Wednesday, Walker said future prosecutions of police officers are inevitable. She noted that Chauvin and the three other officers involved in Floyd’s arrest — J. Kueng, Thomas Lane and Tou Thao — are due to be arraigned on federal charges in September, and that Lane, Kueng and Thao face state trial in March. Meanwhile, former Brooklyn Center police officer Kimberly Potter is scheduled to go to trial in December in the fatal shooting of Daunte Wright.
“The outcome of future trials both known and unknown may well lead to unrest if the public is not satisfied with the verdicts,” Walker wrote. “And thus the time to build confidence in the judicial system — the time to learn from the Chauvin jurors — is now.”
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Court TV is a part of the aforementioned Media Coalition
