Racially Mixed Jury Picked for Officer’s Trial

ORLANDO, Fla. — A racially mixed jury was seated Friday to hear the manslaughter retrial of a Miami police officer in the killing of two black men, a case that triggered rioting.

The six jurors include two Latinos and one black.

Colombian-born William Lozano, 33, is charged with two counts of manslaughter in the deaths of a black motorcyclist and his passenger. It set off three nights of racial violence in Miami in January, 1989.

Lozano was convicted of manslaughter, but the verdict was overturned by an appeals court, which ruled the Miami jury could have been influenced by concerns over renewed violence. The retrial was assigned to Orlando in an effort to select a more disinterested jury.

Lozano shot Clement Lloyd, 23, in the head as the motorcycle driven by Lloyd came toward him after speeding away from another officer in Miami’s predominantly black Overtown district. His passenger, Allan Blanchard, 24, died of injuries resulting from the motorcycle crash.