Rittenhouse jury resumes deliberating after 2nd mistrial bid

By MICHAEL TARM, SCOTT BAUER and AMY FORLITI

KENOSHA, Wis. (AP) — The assemblage astatine Kyle Rittenhouse’s execution proceedings began deliberating for a 3rd time Thursday with a caller defence petition for a mistrial hanging implicit the politically and racially fraught case.

The mistrial bid was sparked by a assemblage petition Wednesday to re-watch video evidence, including drone footage that prosecutors utilized to effort to undermine Rittenhouse’s self-defense assertion and represent him arsenic the instigator of the bloodshed successful Kenosha successful the summertime of 2020.

Prosecutors said the video showed him pointing his firearm astatine protesters earlier the shooting erupted.

But the defence squad said Wednesday that it had received an inferior transcript of the perchance captious video from prosecutors, prompting its 2nd mistrial question successful a week. Judge Bruce Schroeder agreed to fto the assemblage re-watch the video and did not instantly regularisation connected the mistrial request.

Rittenhouse lawyer Corey Chirafisi said the defence would person approached things otherwise if it had received the amended footage earlier successful the case. Chirafisi said the mistrial petition would beryllium made “without prejudice,” meaning prosecutors could inactive retry Rittenhouse.

Rittenhouse, 18, is connected proceedings connected homicide and attempted homicide charges for sidesplitting 2 men and wounding a 3rd with an AR-style semi-automatic firearm during a tumultuous nighttime of protests implicit the constabulary shooting of Jacob Blake, Black man, by a achromatic constabulary officer. Rittenhouse, a then-17-year-old erstwhile constabulary younker cadet, said helium went to Kenosha to support spot from rioters.

He changeable and killed Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, and Anthony Huber, 26, and wounded Gaige Grosskreutz, present 28. Rittenhouse is white, arsenic were those helium shot. The lawsuit has go a flashpoint successful the statement implicit guns, radical injustice, vigilantism and self-defense successful the U.S.

To immoderate civilian rights activists, the shootings were an onslaught connected the question for radical justice, and immoderate person complained of a radical treble modular successful the mode Rittenhouse was treated that night.

Rittenhouse could get beingness successful situation if convicted of the astir superior complaint against him.

On Thursday, the justice banned MSNBC from the courthouse aft constabulary said they concisely detained a antheral who had followed the assemblage autobus and whitethorn person tried to photograph jurors. The justice said the antheral claimed to beryllium moving for the network.

NBC News said successful a connection that the antheral was a freelancer who received a citation for a postulation usurpation that took spot adjacent the assemblage vehicle, and helium “never photographed oregon intended to photograph them.”

Last week, the defence asked for a mistrial with prejudice, meaning Rittenhouse could not beryllium enactment connected proceedings again. That petition was prompted by what the defence said were improper questions asked by authoritative Thomas Binger during his cross-examination of Rittenhouse.

As for the drone video, the prosecution contends it proves Rittenhouse lied connected the basal erstwhile helium said helium didn’t constituent his firearm astatine protesters. But the cardinal infinitesimal successful the footage is hard to decipher due to the fact that of however acold distant the drone was and however tiny a fig Rittenhouse is successful the frame.

A smaller record size oregon lower-resolution video record is fuzzier and grainier, peculiarly if played connected a larger screen, said Dennis Keeling, an adjunct prof successful the cinema and tv arts section astatine Columbia College Chicago.

Prosecutors told the justice Wednesday that the assemblage saw the highest-quality mentation during the proceedings and that it was not the state’s responsibility that the record size got smaller erstwhile received by the defense.

“We’re focusing excessively heavy connected a technological glitch,” authoritative James Kraus said.

The justice said the mistrial petition volition person to beryllium addressed if determination is simply a blameworthy verdict. If Rittenhouse is acquitted, the quality won’t matter. But if helium is recovered guilty, a mistrial ruling would fundamentally void the verdict.

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Forliti reported from Minneapolis; Bauer from Madison, Wisconsin. Associated Press writer Tammy Webber contributed from Fenton, Michigan; Kathleen Foody from Chicago.

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Find the AP’s afloat sum of the Rittenhouse trial: https://apnews.com/hub/kyle-rittenhouse