KENOSHA, Wis. (NewsNation Now) — The jury has been sent home without reaching a verdict for the second straight day in the Kyle Rittenhouse trial. Earlier on Wednesday, Rittenhouse’s attorneys asked the judge to declare a mistrial because their team received a lower-quality version of drone footage compared to the prosecution.
Defense attorney Corey Chirafisi told Judge Bruce Schroeder the request would be made without prejudice, meaning the state could try Rittenhouse again if the case is thrown out.
Prosecutors countered Wednesday that the jury saw the highest-quality version during the trial and that it was played without objection.
Prosecutor James Kraus said it was not the fault of prosecutors that the file got compressed when received by the defense: “We’re focusing too heavily on a technological glitch.”
Rittenhouse Prosecutor: We Did Not Alter the Video Evidence
The prosecution and defense attorneys clashed Wednesday afternoon in the Kenosha County Court before Judge Bruce Schroeder over disputed video evidence as jurors continued a second day of deliberations.
The dispute involved several videos, especially a high-definition video that the prosecution used in closing arguments on Friday, but which had not been provided to the defense, which only received a low-definition version. The defense moved for a mistrial Tuesday on that basis.
More… Rittenhouse mystery: What happened to mistrial motion over prosecutorial misconduct?
Good question. In fact, as the Chicago Tribune points out, defense attorneys for Kyle Rittenhouse accused prosecutors of two separate acts of misconduct — one that made a splash in the courtroom, and one that pointedly did not. Both give reason for Judge Bruce Schroeder to declare a mistrial with prejudice, according to the defense brief … but Schroeder has yet to rule on either.
