Posted on by Californiacontrarian

An Inquisitive Law Student

In the follow-up book to my first book, The Keneally Chronicles, an inquisitive law student, Richard, asks, “What happens if a court cannot select an unbiased jury?” Now even though this second novella is not yet completely finished, retired Justice Keneally actually has an astute and wise answer to the this question.

In the book, it happens that Richard is from Bloomington, Minnesota, which in real life is adjacent to Minneapolis. At this point, perhaps you may have guessed that the law student was obliquely referring to the Chauvin – George Floyd murder trial which just began on 3/29/21 in Minneapolis. Those of you who are attuned to the present day news will respond that they have already chosen a jury for that trial, and so the question is moot.

However, as with good stories, Richard’s question is actually a lot more pertinent and the situation a lot more complicated. In the scenario that Richard envisioned the initial trial ended in a hung jury, 10-2 for a conviction, and the prosecution decided to retry ex-officer, Derek Chauvin. (I can hear all of you snickering, “Impossible,” but George Floyd’s extremely high Fentanyl level, and his repeated cries of “I can’t breathe” long before he was on the ground could be enough to persuade a juror or two that Chauvin is not guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.)

In Richard’s version when the hung jury verdict was announced, many people, especially on the left were aghast. There was upheaval and rioting in Minneapolis itself and this rioting spread to many other U.S. cities. The twelve jurors had to eventually be secretly escorted out of the hotel in which they had been sequestered. Initially ugly epithets and vile threats were shouted at them forcing them to retreat back into their hotel for their own safety. The photos of these twelve jurors were then leaked to the press, and the next morning their close-up pictures were on the front page of the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

Even though all of the twelve jurors had agreed not to speak to the press afterwards, that promise did not last long after their sequestration ended. Money talks and it didn’t take long for the two holdout jurors to be identified. Without going into details, their lives became hell.

Then came the real problem which was the gist of Richard’s original question. The situation became a practical issue involving the reality of living in Minneapolis and potentially being chosen to serve as a juror for the George Floyd-Derek Chauvin retrial. 

Richard said, “Who in their right mind would want to put their family at risk merely to serve as a juror at the retrial? If a conviction could not be obtained at a second trial, without question there would be more harassment and threats, and possibly worse for the jurors.”

Richard continued, “Likewise, who could admit to impartiality? Like it or not, mainly because of the uber publicity surrounding the first trial, sides would have been chosen well in advance of any potential second trial. A recurrent refrain during jury selection could sound like a stuck record, ‘Sorry, I cannot be impartial. My mind is pretty much made up’.”

And thus we are faced with Richard’s original question: Is it possible that the court would not be able to find twelve unbiased individuals to serve on that jury? Would individuals be willing to stick their necks into a potential hangman’s noose?

Two questions:

How will Justice Keneally answer Richard’s question in my book?

What will happen in real life in Minneapolis?

Stay tuned!

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