Rittenhouse Jurors Head Home After Third Day Of Deliberations

KENOSHA, WI — Jurors ended their third day of deliberations Thursday evening in the Kyle Rittenhouse trial. No verdict was reached and deliberations will continue Friday morning.

Seven men and five women began deliberating the case Tuesday morning. They have to decide if Rittenhouse, 18, acted in self-defense in the shootings of three protesters — including two who were shot fatally — in Kenosha on Aug. 25, 2020.

As deliberations were ongoing Thursday, Kenosha Police arrested a man for carrying a firearm outside the Kenosha County Courthouse, multiple sources said.

Police also said they briefly detained a freelancer for MSNBC Wednesday who they suspected of trying to photograph jurors. The person was given several traffic citations but MSNBC said the freelancer never contacted or intended to contact jurors and neither did they intend to photograph them.

Nonetheless, Kenosha County Circuit Judge Bruce Schroeder barred reporters from MSNBC for the remainder of the trial.

See Also: MSNBC Booted From Rittenhouse Court: Kenosha Judge

Two others were arrested Wednesday in a separate incident after a scuffle on the courthouse steps, police said.

Defense attorneys for Rittenhouse filed a motion for a mistrial without prejudice Wednesday, and said they received a different copy of drone video from the state than what prosecutors used in their closing argument Friday. The defense filed a separate motion for a mistrial with prejudice Monday. A mistrial without prejudice — if granted — would mean the case can be retried.

Kenosha County Circuit Court Judge Bruce Schroeder opted not to rule on the mistrial issues on Wednesday afternoon and jury deliberations continued.

Defense attorney Natalie Wisco said the quality of the video they were provided via email from the state's attorney's office was not as good. She said she requested and received a flash drive of the state's video Saturday, and it was nearly twice the size of the video emailed by the state to the defense.

James Kraus, Kenosha County assistant district attorney, said the copy of the video was "as far as we know, the only copy of the video that we were given."

"I can't explain why Ms. Wisco's file has been compressed. That is not something we can be held accountable for," he said. "The only compressed video is the one Ms. Wisco has."

Schroeder chastised the state, stating he'd been uncertain about allowing the drone footage.

"Given the cloudy picture about this particular exhibit, this is a high-risk strategy for the state. I was queasy about this from the beginning, I am even queasier about it now," Schroeder said.

Defense attorneys first requested a mistrial on Nov. 10, with the complaint alleging that Kenosha County Assistant District Attorney Thomas Binger violated Rittenhouse's rights for bringing up evidence that was ruled out of the court and questioning his pretrial silence at the 18-year-old's testimony.

Rittenhouse is charged with first-degree reckless homicide, first-degree intentional homicide, attempted first-degree intentional homicide and two counts of reckless endangerment. If jurors can't decide on the first-degree intentional homicide and attempted first-degree intentional homicide counts, they can negotiate for lesser counts.

Days of protest in Kenosha were sparked after the police shooting of Jacob Blake, a black man, by a white police officer. Blake survived the shooting, but was left partly paralyzed. Rusten Sheskey, the officer, was cleared of wrongdoing by local and federal authorities.

See More At Patch

• Jury Deliberations To Continue In Kyle Rittenhouse Case
• Suburban Police On Alert As Rittenhouse Verdict Nears
• Rittenhouse Post-Verdict Protests Being Planned In Chicago
• Rittenhouse Trial: Jurors Drawn From Lottery Before Deliberation
  
• Rittenhouse Trial: Judge Allows Lesser Charges