A juror in the trial of Kyle Rittenhouse was dismissed Thursday after making a joke to a police deputy about the 2020 shooting of Jacob Blake, which set off protests in the Wisconsin city where the teen is accused of shooting three people.
After “Juror 7,” who has not been publicly identified, confirmed Thursday he said the joke but declined to repeat what he told the deputy about Blake, Schroeder agreed with prosecutors, saying it was “clear that the appearance of bias is present, and it would seriously undermine the outcome of the case.”
“The best thing under the circumstances is I’m going to dismiss you from the jury, sir,” Schroeder said. Both the prosecution and defense agreed to dismiss the juror.
The juror argued that what he said was not related to Rittenhouse, 18, who is charged with killing Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, and Anthony Huber, 26, and injuring Gaige Grosskreutz, now 27, with an AR-15-style weapon amid the unrest that erupted in Kenosha. Rittenhouse has pleaded not guilty to all counts, and his attorneys are expected to argue that he acted in self-defense.
The juror, a middle-aged White man, spoke through a multicolored mask and appeared nervous while holding a microphone and mentioning Rittenhouse by his first name, according to a pool reporter in court.
“It wasn’t anything to do with the case,” the juror responded. “It wasn’t anything to do with Kyle.”
Schroeder said keeping the man on the jury would compromise the fairness of the murder trial.
“The public needs to be confident that this is a fair trial,” Schroeder said. “At the very most, it was bad judgment to tell a joke of that nature.”
The judge’s decision now leaves the jury panel with 19 people — 11 women and eight men — only one of whom is a person of color. The judge said the jury will be cut to 12 when deliberations begin.
The juror’s dismissal comes days into Rittenhouse’s homicide trial in Kenosha — one that highlights a polarizing, high-profile case in which the teen has been hailed by supporters as a hero who defended himself and assailed by opponents as a violent vigilante.
The jury was seated on Monday evening, capping a day-long process that saw 150 possible jurors whittled down to 20 people. Schroeder noted that it was possible all 20 jurors would not make it to the conclusion of the case, saying there could be family emergencies or medical issues and that some jurors might be discharged.
Throughout the proceedings, Schroeder has emphasized the importance of the jury trial system, like he did Thursday.
The case’s unusually high profile was a significant factor during jury selection. At one point, Schroeder asked jurors for a show of hands from anyone who had not heard about the case, and no one lifted a hand. He also dismissed jurors who said their minds were already firmly made up on the case. Schroeder repeatedly asked jurors if they felt they could be fair.
Schroeder has also emphasized that the case has been heavily documented in the news, at some points criticizing the media for what he said were inaccurate depictions. He also argued that despite the divisive nature of the case, it “is not a political trial.”
On Thursday, Kenosha County Assistant District Attorney Thomas Binger told the court that the joke said by the juror this week was “in bad taste.”
“There are a plethora of bad jokes out there with everything to do with all this. This is one of them,” Binger said. “But I think the rest of this joke, as it were, suggests some sort of racial bias which I think comes into play.”
Justin Blake, uncle of Jacob Blake, told the Chicago Tribune that he was disturbed over how the juror in question was able to be selected to be on the jury panel.
“It gives you an insight to what kind of people we’re dealing with and how racist they are and the thoughts that they have in their mind. And the audacity that [he] was sitting in the jury box says a lot,” Justin Blake said. “It shows that this process of picking a jury in one day is flawed.”
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