Five jurors selected in the Van Dyke murder trial
Five jurors have been selected and sworn in for the Jason Van Dyke murder trial. Van Dyke is the CPD officer who is in court for the 2014 shooting death of Laquan McDonald.
Under Illinois law, Van Dyke can still switch from a jury trial to a bench trial, as long as he makes that decision before the 12th juror is selected. After that, the defense would need Judge Vincent Gaughan's approval.
Right now, there are three white jurors, one Asian-American and one Hispanic woman.
While in court, the defense called out Judge Gaughan for “rehabilitating” jurors, meaning he accepted their promise to be impartial after they already stated they might have a bias.
The judge responded saying, “You're not threatening me.”
Judge Gaughan ordered Van Dyke's lead attorney to make his decision on switching to a bench trial or keeping a jury trial by Tuesday.
