Rittenhouse Verdict Watch

The jury in the Kyle Rittenhouse trial is not reaching a verdict easily. At this writing, it has spent three full workdays deliberating, a total of 23 hours and 20 minutes, and has yet to reach a verdict.

On the first day of deliberations, the jury asked for extra copies of the 30-page jury instruction packet. On the second day, it asked to view some of the videos that were presented in the trial: the Gaige Grosskreutz livestream, the “BG on the Scene” video, the FBI infrared aerial video, and the controversial enhanced drone video. The jury watched the videos inside the court room. On the third day, the only request was from an individual juror who asked permission to take the jury instructions home.

Chanley Painter, a Court TV legal correspondent, reported that when she was in the courtroom, she was able faintly to hear the chants of the protestors outside. Protesters and counter-protesters have been outside the courthouse for days.

The jury box is empty as the jury continues deliberations in private at the Kenosha County Courthouse. (Credit Image: © Sean Krajacic/The Kenosha News-POOL via ZUMA Press Wire)

David Beth, the sheriff of Kenosha County, decided that the way to peace is through protesters’ stomachs; he set up a table offering free coffee and free cookies. In an interview outside the courthouse, he said, “I did this about five years ago for another protest we had . . . and it seemed to just lighten the intensity of what was going on. . . . That’s our ultimate goal.”

Judge Schroeder has yet to rule on the defense motion for a mistrial with prejudice. “With prejudice” means that the state would not be able to charge Kyle Rittenhouse again.

The motion says: “On November 5, 2021 the fifth day of trial on this case, the prosecution turned over to the defense footage of a drone video which captured some of the incident from August 25, 2020. The problem is, the prosecution gave the defense a compressed version of the video. What that means is the video provided to the defense was not as clear as the video kept by the state. The video which was in the state’s possession, wasn’t provided to the defense until after the trial concluded.”

This could be a discovery violation. The jury did not see this video until closing arguments, which is an unusual time to present new evidence. Judge Schroeder has been discussing the motion with the prosecution and the defense; he has until accepting the jury’s verdict to rule. Prosecutors said the defense did not have the right software to view the video.

On Thursday, November 18, Judge Schroeder announced that “no one from MSNBC News will be permitted in this building.” This was after the Kenosha Police Department told him that a reporter named James J. Morrison was caught following the jury bus. Jurors are driven to the court from a different location in a bus with covered windows, so they can’t be identified or exposed by protestors. Police stopped Mr. Morrison because he was following the bus from a distance of about a block and went through a red light. He identified himself as a producer with NBC News; he said he was working for MSNBC under the supervision of Irene Byon in New York. He told the police Miss Byon had instructed him to follow the jury bus. Miss Byon has since deleted her Twitter and LinkedIn accounts.

The Kenosha Police Department tweeted “There was no breach of security regarding the jury, nor were there any photographs obtained.”

An NBC News spokesperson made the statement: “Last night, a freelancer received a traffic citation. While the traffic violation took place near the jury van, the freelancer never contacted or intended to contact the jurors during deliberations and never photographed or intended to photograph them. We regret the incident and will fully cooperate with the authorities on any investigation.”

Judge Schroeder commented in court, “This is a very serious matter, and I don’t know what the ultimate truth of it is.”