Jury in Kyle Rittenhouse case asks to watch controversial drone footage from the night of shooting,

The judge presiding over the Kenosha shooter ‘hasn’t even had a chance to read the motion to dismiss’ filed by the defense yesterday and revealed by DailyMail.com.

Judge Bruce Schroeder made the admission as he was addressing the court Wednesday morning after a jury question sparked discussion over the controversial drone footage. 

The jury alerted the judge that they had two questions related to the footage.

They asked if it must return to the courtroom to watch video footage or if they could do that in private as well as whether they need to have the exact exhibit number to do so.  

Both Assistant District Attorney Thomas Binger and defense lead Mark Richards agreed that they should return to the courtroom.

But Richards had one reservation in respect to the possible footage viewed.

 Rittenhouse, who was 17 at the time of the shootings, is charged with first-degree intentional homicide and other counts

Lawyers for Rittenhouse filed their motion for mistrial with prejudice based on this and several other grounds. According to a motion filed yesterday by the defense, ‘The problem is the prosecution gave the defense a compressed version of the video’

Yesterday the defense filed a motion for mistrial with prejudice based in part on the fact that the prosecution did not share high-definition drone footage with the defense until after the trial part of proceedings had concluded, and evidence closed.

Today he said, ‘I don’t know what exhibits the jurors with to see we have a real problem with them seeing the drone footage.

‘We have a motion pending based upon disclosure. If they want to see that, that’s just tainting the jury further.’

As revealed by DailyMail.com the state only provided a full-size file of the footage in question on Saturday November 13, two days ahead of closing.

Richard’s objection sparked the judge to respond to comments that he claimed he had seen in the media from experts expressing surprise that he had not ruled on the defense’s motion for a mistrial.

He said, ‘I haven’t even had a chance to read the motion to dismiss. I just got it yesterday and I really think that before reading I should let the state respond.’

He said that motions should be ‘taken under advisement’ unless they were ‘crystal clear.’

Warming to his theme Judge Schroeder continued, ‘It’s a shame that irresponsible statements are being made. As long as I’m talking about it [let’s talk about] the business of people not being identified as ‘victims.’

Judge Schroeder’s ruling that the men shot by Rittenhouse could not be described as ‘victims’ caused a great deal of backlash for the judge.

DailyMail.com revealed that there was a huge swell in the hate mail he has received as a result.

Today he said, ‘How would you like to be put on trial for a crime and the judge introduced the case to the jury by introducing you as the defendant and the person who’s accusing you as the victim?

‘Is it so difficult to use the term ‘complaining witness’?’

James Armstrong, a photographic expert in the Wisconsin State Crime Lab, testified about drone video during the trial last week 

Prosecutors in the Kenosha shooter trial withheld evidence from the defense that was ‘at the center of their case,’ only sharing the high-definition drone video footage (pictured) on which they have hung their prosecution after the trial had concluded

 Assistant District Attorney Thomas Binger played the enhanced drone footage to the jury during his closing statements and claimed that it showed Rittenhouse ‘pointing his gun’ at people – an assertion that opened the door to the state claiming Rittenhouse provoked the violence of the night of August 25, 2020 

The judge also addressed flack over the unusual method with which the alternate jurors had been selecting – Rittenhouse drew their numbers from a tumbler in court.

According to Judge Schroeder he had come up with that method two decades ago when trying a murder case in Racine.

He said, ‘There was a black defendant and 13 jurors one of whom was black. The clerk drew the name out of the tumbler, and it was the only black [juror].

‘It was okay, but it was a bad optic I thought. I think people feel better when they have control.’

Before returning to the matter in hand the judge went onto defend all five attorneys trying this case as ‘very reputable and competent’ and though he did not go into specifics he said it thought it ‘shameful some of the things that are being done to these people.’

He described some coverage as ‘grossly irresponsible’ and said, ‘I’m going to think long and hard about live television of a trial again.

‘When I see what’s being done it’s really quite frightening: frightening. That’s the word for it.’

Turning his focus back on the jurors’ question the judge ruled with the attorneys’ agreement that they should return to the courtroom to watch any exhibits.

As to how many times they are allowed to watch that video there was some discussion.

Judge Schroeder felt that limiting the number of times the jurors can re-watch any footage or look at any still images was an ‘insult’ to their intelligence.

Richards disagreed saying that watching or re-watching ‘three or four times’ was okay but that watching without limit could lead to an undue emphasis being placed on one piece of evidence.

The judge will make a final decision on that detail once the defense has had an opportunity to research legal precedents.

Rittenhouse fatally shot Joseph Rosenbaum (left), 36, with an AR-15-style semiautomatic rifle after Rosenbaum chased Rittenhouse across a parking lot and threw a plastic bag at him shortly before midnight on August 25, 2020. Moments later, as Rittenhouse was running down a street, he shot and killed Anthony Huber (right), 26, a protester from Silver Lake, Wisconsin

Six of the 18 jurors who have heard the case were selected as alternates Tuesday morning and must remain in the courthouse while the remaining 12 deliberate in case any of the selected jurors are unable to continue deliberations for any reason such as ill-health. If that were to happen one of the alternates will be asked to step in.

While they wait, the alternates will be kept separate from the rest of the jurors and allowed to access their laptop computers and watch movies provided by the court but they cannot discuss the case with each other or view any information about it. 

Kyle Rittenhouse himself drew the numbers of the six jurors from a brown metal tumbler, handing the slips of paper to the bailiff who handed them to the judge to be read.

The three men and three women who were drawn stood as their number were read. The remaining jury now consists of five men and seven woman and all but one juror is white.

Addressing the remaining 12 jury members, Judge Bruce Schroeder said Tuesday, ‘It is for you to determine whether the defendant is guilty or not guilty.

‘You must make a finding on each count [and your] verdict on one count must not affect your finding on any other count’

The entire proceedings lasted less than ten minutes with the jury sent out at 9.14am.

Rittenhouse, 18, is charged with first-degree intentional homicide and other counts for killing Joseph Rosenbaum and Anthony Huber and wounding Gaige Grosskreutz on August 25, 2020.

Six of the 18 jurors who have heard the case were selected as alternates Tuesday morning and must remain in the courthouse while the remaining 12 deliberate in case they should be re-called

Defense attorney Mark Richards began closing statements Monday afternoon claiming Assistant District Attorney Thomas Binger ‘lied to the jury’s faces’

Assistant District Attorney Thomas Binger said in closing arguments Monday that when the shooting stopped, Rittenhouse walked off like a ‘hero in a Western’

On Monday, Judge Bruce Schroeder told the jury to ignore ‘everyone’s opinion’ – including that of President Joe Biden, who labeled Rittenhouse a white supremacist, and Donald Trump, who has described Rittenhouse as someone who acted in self defense.

Assistant District Attorney Thomas Binger said in closing arguments Monday that when the shooting stopped, Rittenhouse walked off like a ‘hero in a Western.’

But Rittenhouse’s lawyer countered that the shooting started after the young man was ambushed by a ‘crazy person’ that night and feared his gun was going to be wrested away and used to kill him. 

The case has divided the nation and brought back to the surface the debate that tore through cities last summer when Rittenhouse shot dead two BLM protesters during a riot in Kenosha, Wisconsin, that was triggered by the police shooting of Jacob Blake, an unarmed black man. 

On Tuesday Black Lives Matter protesters demonstrating on the steps of Kenosha’s courthouse threatened to ‘shut down’ the city if Rittenhouse is acquitted, as the National Guard were put on standby to deal with any potential unrest.

An activist with a megaphone, wearing a BLM hoodie, urged on his fellow protesters, chanting: ‘If Kenosha don’t get it, shut it down’.

He then began chanting: ‘Seven shots in the back’ – a reference to Jacob Blake, a black man who was shot seven times by a white officer in Kenosha on August 23, 2020.

Blake’s shooting sparked the Kenosha riots, during which Rittenhouse on August 25, 2020 shot and killed two white BLM demonstrators and injured a third.  

Ahead of the verdict, the governor of Wisconsin, Tony Evers, ordered 500 members of the National Guard to be put on standby, 60 miles away, in case of unrest.

Many expect there to be fury from the ‘losing’ side of the argument, regardless of whether the 18-year-old is convicted or acquitted.   

A protester is restrained by a friend during a confrontation with a counterprotester on the steps of the courthouse in Kenosha on Tuesday 

Waving the black, red and green flag of Black Lives Matter, demonstrators gathered on Tuesday outside the Kenosha courthouse

Behind him, supporters of Kyle Rittenhouse held placards aloft backing the teenager

‘Maserati Mike’ gets out of his black Maserati at Kenosha courthouse on Wednesday. He was the first protester there and chanted through his megaphone ‘Black Lives Matter is a terrorist organization’

‘We continue to be in close contact with our partners at the local level to ensure the state provides support and resources to help keep the Kenosha community and greater area safe,’ Governor Evers stated.

‘The Kenosha community has been strong, resilient, and has come together through incredibly difficult times these past two years, and that healing is still ongoing,’ Evers said. 

‘I urge folks who are otherwise not from the area to please respect the community by reconsidering any plans to travel there and encourage those who might choose to assemble and exercise their First Amendment rights to do so safely and peacefully.’  

Kenosha Police Department and the Kenosha County Sheriff’s Department said they are monitoring the trial and are working with local and federal authorities to ensure the ‘safety of our communities.’

‘We recognize that there are varying opinions and feelings that revolve around the trial that may cause concerns,’ the two agencies said. 

The protests outside Kenosha courthouse continued on Wednesday with the arrival of an armed man calling himself ‘Maserati Mike’. ‘Mike’ arrived in the black sportscar where he takes his nickname, carrying a megaphone and wearing thin-rimmed glasses and a bow-tie. 

‘Black Lives Matter is a terrorist organization,’ he chanted, before being told by cops to put his gun away because he was within 1,000ft of a school – an order he complied with. He complied, then left the court in his sportscar. 

There were only a handful of others there, including a woman holding an American flag, but more are expected throughout the day.