Without reaching a verdict, day two of jury deliberations in the trial of Kyle Rittenhouse ended Wednesday evening at around 4:50 p.m., local time.
Judge Bruce Schroeder instructed the 12 jurors and six alternates to go home for the night and return back to the courthouse Thursday morning to continue deliberation. This from dailywire.com.
Schroeder told jurors not to look at any media about the case, and resist talking about the case with anyone while they are away from the court.
Notably, on Monday evening, Schroeder emphasized to the jury they have an obligation to render a fair verdict, not based on his presumed opinion, news media, or comments from Joe Biden or President Trump.
“The time has now come where the great burden of reaching a just, fair, and conscientious decision in this case will be placed totally with you. You will not be swayed by sympathy, passion, prejudice, or political beliefs. You will disregard any impressions that you may have, which you may believe are my opinion on the guilt or innocence of the defendant,” Schroeder said.
“You will disregard the claims or opinions of any person, news media, or social networking site,” the judge told the jury. “You will pay no heed to the opinions of anyone — even the president of the United States, or the president before him.”
“The founders of our country gave you, and you alone, the power and the duty to decide this case,” Schroeder asserted.
Rittenhouse is on trial for fatally shooting two men and injuring a third during the unrest in Kenosha last August. The teen has pleaded not guilty to all charges, citing self-defense.
Two charges against Rittenhouse—a gun charge and a curfew charge—have already been dropped.
What is happening with motion for a mistrial in Rittenhouse case?
The following from westernjournal.com.
Jurors want to review drone video evidence that has become the center of controversy in the trial.
That led Judge Schroeder on Wednesday to comment, “My nightmare has come true,” according to WMAQ-TV.
The motion states that the prosecution gave the defense a drone recording taken in Kenosha on the night of shootings at a lower resolution than the one the state had available for viewing.
The evidence is considered crucial by the state because it claims Rittenhouse was pointing his gun at those who were shot before he faced potential harm.
“The video footage has been at the center of this case,” the mistrial motion states. “The failure to provide the same quality footage in this particular case is intentional and clearly prejudices the defendant.”
While discussing the drone video without the jury present on Wednesday, questions emerged about copying video from a phone to a laptop, according to WMAQ.
Is Kyle Rittenhouse getting a fair trial?
Amid discussion of viewing the video, it was determined that the jury could view the video as often as they want, but would need to be assembled in the courtroom, and not in private, to view the evidence.
Earlier, the defense spoke about its motion for a mistrial.
“We were provided a copy of that from Mr. [James] Kraus that was neither in the length or definition clarity that the state had. We did not get the full download that they received until Saturday [or] Sunday of last weekend after all the evidence was closed, and that’s a real problem.”
“[S]ince doing our research, the specific Amped [software] owners’ manual says that when using AI to enhance photographs or videos, it is for investigative purposes only,” Richards said. “It is not forensically to be used in a court of law and should be labeled as such.”
At this point there is nothing more to report.
Stay tuned for further information. Day 3 of deliberation awaits.
