Judge in Derek Chauvin case tells jurors ‘don’t watch the news’

The judge presiding over former officer Derek Chauvin’s murder trial in downtown Minneapolis urged jurors not to watch the news after the first day concluded Monday.

Turning to jurors as he ended the proceedings Monday, Judge Peter Cahill told the assembled panel: “Have a good night and don’t watch the news,” according to The New York Times.

His remarks reportedly came after a video feed operated by Court TV being used to broadcast the trial on television cut out, forcing the court to adjourn for the day. 

Chauvin faced his first day of his murder trial Monday. He faces charges of second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter over the May 2020 death of George Floyd, a Black man who was accused by a store clerk of paying with a counterfeit $20 bill.

Graphic video of Floyd’s arrest and death went viral last year. It showed Chauvin kneeling on Floyd’s neck for roughly nine minutes. Defense attorneys have argued that Floyd’s death was caused by trace amounts of fentanyl and opiates found in his system, though a medical examiner found that the cause of death was “cardiopulmonary arrest [the stopping of both the heart and lungs] complicating law enforcement subdual, restraint, and neck compression.”

Floyd’s death spurred protests around the nation last year, while Chauvin was fired from the Minneapolis police department over the incident in the days following.