Rittenhouse juror dismissal for ‘joke’ he told to court security officer shows risk of bias in major trials
The juror dismissed from Kyle Rittenhouse’s murder trial apparently was trying to be funny when he cracked to a court security officer about a police officer’s shooting of Jacob Blake, the event that set off the protests where Rittenhouse shot three people, two fatally.
The moment captured the bias – sometimes explicit, but often implicit or unconscious – that experts say is especially damaging in criminal proceedings. Jurors who may not see their biases as problematic or even realize they exist are asked to weigh witness testimony and ultimately decide a defendant’s fate. And while the juror in Kenosha, Wisc.
In part of Washington state, potential jurors are shown a video about implicit bias, and attorneys are encouraged to ask questions during jury selection such as what they thought about the video. It’s not clear whether that happened in Kenosha, Wisconsin, where 20 people were seated for the Rittenhouse jury in one day. The 12 who decide the case will be announced later, the judge said.
Rittenhouse is white, as are the three men he shot in August 2020. But the case has raised questions about racial justice, policing, firearms and white privilege that have polarized people far outside Kenosha. Prosecutors have portrayed Rittenhouse as the instigator of the three shootings, while his lawyer says Rittenhouse acted in self-defence. He could be sentenced to life in prison if convicted.
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