前明尼阿波利斯警官德里克·肖万在20世纪90年代被谋杀的审判乔治·弗洛伊德之死周一开始，检察官要求法官暂停陪审团的选择。

在陪审团开始选择之前，肖万的辩护律师埃里克·尼尔森告诉法庭，他将向明尼苏达州最高法院提交一份请愿书，要求审查上诉法院周五发布的一项决定，该决定要求初审法官彼得·卡希尔考虑恢复三级谋杀指控对抗肖万。

州检察官马修·弗兰克(Matthew Frank)要求卡希尔根据关于额外指控的辩护申请推迟陪审团的选择。

“如果我们现在开始挑选陪审团，我们就不知道具体的指控是什么，”弗兰克争辩道。“因此，本法院将对一项审判的陪审员做出决定，我们还不知道具体的指控是什么。这种危险一旦发生，显然是不可能发生的。”

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前明尼阿波利斯警官德里克·肖万(右)和他的辩护律师埃里克·尼尔森(左)

当卡希尔拒绝推迟这起备受瞩目的案件的请求时，弗兰克告诉法院，他将提出一项动议，寻求上诉法院的进一步指导，即在州最高法院尚未决定是否允许三级指控的情况下，肖万的审判是否应该继续进行陪审团的选择。

“除非上诉法院另有指示，否则我们将继续下去，”卡希尔在周一下午审查了一系列动议后对律师们说，大多数动议都得到检方和辩方的同意。

卡西尔说，他将在周二上午召集潜在的陪审员。

审判的开场辩论暂定于3月29日开始。审判预计将持续两个月，检察官和辩护律师表示，他们计划传唤近400名潜在证人作证，其中362人由检方提供。

上诉法院裁定，卡希尔在10月份撤销了对肖万的三级谋杀指控，并要求他重新考虑自己的决定，这是错误的。卡西尔在回应上诉法院的裁决时表示，由于肖万计划要求州最高法院审查上诉决定，他甚至没有管辖权接受关于他是否应该恢复三级指控的论点。

凯雷姆·于切尔/法新社通过盖蒂图像

陪审团选举开始前，示威者在亨内平县政府中心外抗议

鉴于该州打算提出推迟诉讼的动议，卡西尔将陪审团的选择推迟到至少周二，以便弗兰克有时间向上诉法院提出指导请求。

“该州已经做好了接受审判的充分准备，但审判必须根据规则和法律进行，”明尼苏达州司法部长基思·埃里森(Keith Ellison)在一份声明中说，他的办公室正在起诉肖万。“既然肖万已经表示，他打算就周五上诉法院的裁决向明尼苏达州最高法院提出上诉，这是他的权利，地区法院无权进行陪审团选择或审理和裁决审判中的其他实质性问题。我们已经向上诉法院提出动议，以确保正义得到适当伸张。”

斯蒂芬·成熟/盖蒂影像公司

2021年3月8日，明尼阿波利斯，人们在游行纪念乔治·弗洛伊德。

肖万已经面临二级谋杀和二级过失杀人的指控。

“我们不想拖延这个案子，”弗兰克说。“我们想试一试...我们不想制造上诉问题，”弗兰克说。

肖万的律师埃里克·尼尔森在法庭上说，他认为陪审团的选择可以继续进行，同时等待最高法院对上诉法院关于三级谋杀的裁决进行复审。

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亨内平县法官彼得·卡希尔在明尼阿波利斯的亨内平县法院发表演讲

“我们准备审理这个案子。纳尔逊说:“我们无意拖延这个案子。

法律争论始于周一，一大群要求为弗洛伊德伸张正义的抗议者在亨内平县法院外示威。

Leah Millis/路透社

一个名为Kalpulli Yaocenoxtli的社区的土著人在一次集会上表演

“我期待正义，”弗洛伊德的妹妹布里奇特·弗洛伊德在走进法院时告诉美国广播公司新闻。“我们将带着信念走出那里。”

44岁的肖万在这位46岁的黑人男子死亡的当天被录像长时间跪在弗洛伊德的脖子上，他正与其他三名卷入这起引发全国抗议的死亡事件的前官员分开受审。j .亚历山大·库恩(J. Alexander Kueng)、托马斯·莱恩(Thomas Lane)和图索(Tou Thao)被控协助和教唆二级谋杀和过失杀人，定于8月受审。

Twist in Derek Chauvin trial: Prosecutors appeal judge's decision to continue jury selection, delaying proceedings

The murder trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin in thedeath of George Floydkicked off Monday with prosecutors asking the judge to put jury selection on hold.

Before jury selection could begin, Chauvin's defense attorney, Eric Nelson, told the court that he will file a petition for the Minnesota Supreme Court to review a Court of Appeals decision issued on Friday asking that trial Judge Peter Cahill considerreinstating a third-degree murder chargeagainst Chauvin.

State prosecutor Matthew Frank requested that Cahill delay jury selection in light of the defense petition regarding the additional charge.

"We won't know exactly what the charges are if we now go forward and start picking the jury," Frank argued. "So this court would be making decisions about jurors for a trial about which we don't know what the exact charges are going to be yet. And that jeopardy, once it attaches, that clearly cannot happen."

When Cahill refused the request to delay the high-profile case, Frank told the court he would file a motion seeking further direction from the appellate court on whether Chauvin's trial should proceed with jury selection while a decision on whether to allow the third-degree charge is pending in the state Supreme Court.

"Unless the Court of Appeals tells me otherwise we're going to keep going," Cahill told the attorneys Monday afternoon after going over a series of motions, most agreed on by the prosecution and defense.

Cahill said he will call potential jurors back on Tuesday morning.

Opening arguments in the trial are tentatively scheduled to begin on March 29. The trial is expected to last up to two months and prosecutors and defense attorneys said they plan to call nearly 400 potential witnesses to testify, 362 by the prosecution.

The Court of Appeals ruled that Cahill erred when he dropped the third-degree murder charge against Chauvin in October and asked him to reconsider his decision. Cahill, in response to the Court of Appeals ruling, stated that because Chauvin planned to asked the state Supreme Court to review the appellate decision, he does not have jurisdiction to even entertain arguments on whether he should reinstate the third-degree charge.

In light of the state's intent to file a motion to delay the proceedings, Cahill put jury selection on hold until at least Tuesday to give Frank time to file his request for guidance from the appeals court.

"The State is fully ready to go to trial, but the trial must be conducted in accordance with the rules and the law,” Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, whose office is prosecuting Chauvin, said in a statement “Now that Mr. Chauvin has stated his intention to appeal Friday’s Court of Appeals ruling to the Minnesota Supreme Court, as is his right, the district court does not have jurisdiction to conduct jury selection or hear and rule on other substantive matters in the trial. We have filed a motion with the Court of Appeals to ensure that justice is pursued properly."

Chauvin is already facing charges of second-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.

"We are not trying to delay this case," Frank said. "We want to try it right ... we don't want to create appeal issues," Frank said.

Chauvin's lawyer, Eric Nelson, said in court that he believes that jury selection can proceed while they wait for the Supreme Court to review the Court of Appeals ruling on third-degree murder.

"We are prepared to try this case. It is not our intent to delay this case," Nelson said.

The legal wrangling commenced Monday as a large crowd of protesters demanding justice for Floyd demonstrated outside the Hennepin County Courthouse.

“I’m expecting justice," Floyd's sister, Bridgett Floyd, told ABC News as she entered the courthouse. "We're gonna walk out of there with a conviction."

Chauvin, 44, who was videotaped kneeling on Floyd's neck for a prolonged period of time on the day the 46-year-old Black man died, is being tried separately from three other former officers involved in the death that prompted protests nationwide. J. Alexander Kueng, Thomas Lane and Tou Thao are charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder and manslaughter and are scheduled to go on trial in August.