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Why is it taking so long for the Jury to rule on #KyleRittenhouse Seems a clear cut case of innocence to me. I cant imagine how any other verdict is even a thought given the circumstances (which are largely agreed upon by both sides).
@freemo I'm not entirely proud of it but I've remained largely ignorant on the case and ignored all the memes. However, I am extremely proud that I got called a lieing foreign troll on "other" social media when I corrected someone's assumption that the prosecution can successfully appeal if he's found not guilty.
@b6hydra watching the video of the events mostly tells you all you need to know. The dude was running from people trying to kill him screaming "friendly friendly friendly" and only shot once he was knocked to the ground, cornered, and people starting attacking him (including at one point having a gun held to his head).
@freemo
@sidekick
What you're talking about is a mistrial, not an appeal. A mistrial can generally occur in two ways. First, there's a hung jury, which is still a possibility here. The second is significant misconduct or errors that make the possibility of a fair trial impossible. It is possible for a mistrial to be declared after the fact but it's rare. Typically if either side thought the process was unfair they make make their motions at that time, rather than gamble on the jury.
@freemo
https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/statutes/statutes/974/05
@freemo
I'm not seeing anything special that would allow the prosecution to appeal the verdict. They can appeal judgments as well as the sentence, but cannot retry someone on a whim. The statute specifically says
> if the appeal would not be prohibited by constitutional protections against double jeopardy
@sidekick
Yes it is, a state isnt always the prosecution, it can also be the defense. A state can appeal when it is the defense and found guilty. It can not appeal when it is the prosecution and the verdict is innocent.
Again appeals can only be against a guilty verdict, never against an innocent one. This is true regardless of what side the state is in the hearing.
@b6hydra
This is a direct quote from the wisconsin DOJ clearly stating that the state can not appeal a not guilty verdict (which is unconstitutional in every state btw):
Appeals by the state after certain circuit court judgments (such as not guilty) are
limited by the United States Constitution. The 5th Amendment's “double jeopardy”
clause protects against multiple prosecutions for the same offense. Therefore, if the defendant is acquitted, the state cannot appeal.
@sidekick
To address your question about jury instruction, yes that could be reason for a mistrial. If the prosecution makes that claim the judge can reject it. Then the prosecution can appeal that individual decision on that individual matter. It sounds like they already made a similar claim before and the judge didn't do anything with it, just put it in his drawer to rot, which means there's no decision to appeal.
@freemo
Right. But they can say, "Your Honor, the trial judge made such egregious errors of law when <instructing the jurors>/<ruling on evidence admissibility>/<empaneling the jury>/... that the defendant stood negligible chance of conviction and was never in real jeopardy to begin with. The public interest in justice demands that your Honor order a retrial in which the errors are corrected."
@freemo
My guess is that the likeliest basis the prosecution would choose is (1)(d)2, maybe (1)(a).