Breaking: Rittenhouse Judge Allows Jurors to Take Instructions Home with Them
Jurors in the homicide trial of Kyle Rittenhouse concluded a third day of deliberations Thursday, and they were permitted to take instructions home with them, according to a report.
CNN’s Omar Jimenez reported that one juror, a woman, asked Judge Bruce Schroeder if she could take instructions home with her. Schroeder, in a stunning development, reportedly agreed.
“A juror in the Kyle Rittenhouse trial asked if she could take the jury instructions home and the judge said yes. The jury is done for the day after 7 hours of deliberating. Three days, still no verdict,” Jimenez wrote on Twitter.
A juror in the Kyle Rittenhouse trial asked if she could take the jury instructions home and the judge said yes. The jury is done for the day after 7 hours of deliberating. Three days, still no verdict. #KyleRittenhouse
— Omar Jimenez (@OmarJimenez) November 18, 2021
The CNN reporter noted that in fact each member of the 12-person jury was allowed to take the instructions home before returning for a fourth day of deliberation.
“All jurors will be able to take the jury instructions home but none of their notes. As part of granting this wish, the judge said he’s been watching some TV and that some of the greatest legal minds in the country ‘agree with us that the instructions are very confusing,’” Jimenez added.
All jurors will be able to take the jury instructions home but none of their notes. As part of granting this wish, the judge said he’s been watching some TV and that some of the greatest legal minds in the country “agree with us that the instructions are very confusing.”
— Omar Jimenez (@OmarJimenez) November 18, 2021
Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs with The New York Times reported those instructions are 36-pages long.
The jurors also asked if they could take the 36 pages of jury instructions home, and the judge said yes, they could.
Kyle Rittenhouse’s lawyers suggested they would have preferred if the judge had said no. https://t.co/idH7k0hiaB
— Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs (@NickAtNews) November 18, 2021
The news was met with a cold reaction on Twitter:
They are taking jury instructions home in #rittenhouse case. This is nuts
— Eric Guster, Esq (@EricGuster) November 18, 2021
#KyleRittenhouse – I have never heard of this happening. Juror asked if she could take the jury instructions home with her and the judge said yes. @LawCrimeNetwork pic.twitter.com/YHELs4lL4v
— Cathy Russon (@cathyrusson) November 18, 2021
Jury done for the night in #KyleRittenhouse. One juror asked if she could take the jury instructions home with her for the night and the judge said yes @LawCrimeNetwork
— Angenette Levy (@Angenette5) November 18, 2021
Rittenhouse Judge Schroeder is wrong to allow jurors to take instructions home – only place they are supposed to work on the trial is together in jury room. He should have told them you are not to work on this case at home. He is encouraging juror misconduct.
— Shanlon Wu (@shanlonwu) November 18, 2021
One juror on Wednesday requested video from the Rittenhouse shooting of Joseph Rosenbaum, ABC News reported. No such requests were made on Thursday.
Schroeder’s decision to allow the jury to view instructions from home followed another wild day in the trial.
Earlier in the day, it was reported that a contractor for MSNBC had attempted to film members of the jury on Wednesday evening as they left the courthouse. Schroeder has announced that the network has been banned from the Kenosha courthouse for the duration of the trial.
Truth and Accuracy
We are committed to truth and accuracy in all of our journalism. Read our editorial standards.
