Even before the trial for Kyle Rittenhouse started, the judge presiding over the case, Bruce Schroeder, started bungling it so badly that it made it probable that it would end up being at least appealed if not declared a mistrial.
Schroeder ruled that prosecutors could not call the people shot and killed by Rittenhouse as victims, even though that's what they were. But he gave his okie dokie for the defense to call the protesters "rioters" and "looters." He put a caveat that the defense had to prove that's what they were doing. But previous rulings in these proceedings as well as other cases he has handled already indicate that is exactly what Schroeder believes to be the case. Schroeder already also ruled that Rittenhouse chumming with members of Proud Boys to be also inadmissible.
On Monday, the jury panel was picked. Almost all the potentials jurors expressed fear of being on the panel because of the concern of retaliation by one side or the other, regardless of the verdict. The final panel consists of 20 people - 11 men and 9 women but only one person is a person of color. Schroeder tried to ease the jurors' fears by telling them that the level of risk to their safety was less than they think because of security measures which he wouldn't disclose. In other words, he basically said "Trust me. Would I lie to you?"
Then things went from bad to worse when, despite Schroeder's alleged concern over attorneys using loaded terms regarding the victims, he allowed the defense to repeatedly say the racially charged N-word during opening arguments. Gee, how does he think that will play with a predominately white jury who just expressed fear over the BLM protest?
But then things went from worse to WTF? by Schroeder himself.
First, he started to lecture the jury about hearsay and quickly went on a tangent into giving a Bible study lesson:
Judge Schroeder in the Rittenhouse trial, for some strange reason, decided to give the jury a law school class on the hearsay rule, which veered off into a discussion of a Bible passage on the trial of Paul. pic.twitter.com/UHgUvrXTMs
— Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) November 3, 2021
Later, Schroeder took a break from the trial just to mewl about how the media is covering his rulings:
In another bizarre move, the Judge in the Rittenhouse case takes a break during the trial to complain about media coverage of his rulings. pic.twitter.com/oLmUV11xeX
— Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) November 3, 2021
Without doubt, Schroeder is also nursing some hurt feelings from the other coverage of his rulings, including having another murder trial sent back to him twice because he screwed it up so badly and his own use of the N-word in court proceedings.
Given that Schroeder is 75 years old and an obvious right wing bigot, they should just declare a mistrial now and Schroeder should retire. It would save a helluva lot time and taxpayer money.
