# The Rittenhouse trial **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 4, 2021, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rittenhouse-trial/953798 "2021-11-04T14:56:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 53
**Author:** ![Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kolak_of_twilo/32/73_2.png) [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolak_of_Twilo)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2021, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rittenhouse-trial/953798/1043 "2021-11-19T18:05:51Z")
Verdict is in and will be read shortly. ---
**Author:** ![eschrodinger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschrodinger/32/122_2.png) [@eschrodinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschrodinger)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2021, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rittenhouse-trial/953798/1044 "2021-11-19T18:10:24Z")
I’d like to see the verdict forms, but I’m not finding them online. Sometimes they’re helpful. Sometimes they just ask for the verdict, and aren’t really helpful. I also see that, apparently, the judge granted the request of “a female juror” to take the instructions home with her. I think that’s weird in two ways. One, typically no one should be deliberating on their own, plus there’s a danger that the juror wants to go through the instructions with someone else. Two, why identify that it was “a female juror”? That’s all kinds of weird to me. ---
**Author:** ![mmmiiikkkeee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/edb3f5/32.png) [@mmmiiikkkeee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mmmiiikkkeee)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2021, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rittenhouse-trial/953798/1045 "2021-11-19T18:12:26Z")
> [@eschrodinger](#): > > The prosecution can’t get a new trial after an acquittal verdict has been accepted. So does this mean the judge can decide to accept a “not guilty” verdict (if he likes it), even if it becomes apparent that yes, the prosecution totally cheated and the trial was inherently unfair? Shouldn’t a mistrial be mandatory if that’s what the facts indicate? Or, is it more like the judge can decide to accept a not-guilty verdict, and then the mistrial question never gets evaluated and just disappears because the trial process is considered closed? ---
**Author:** ![Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kolak_of_twilo/32/73_2.png) [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolak_of_Twilo)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2021, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rittenhouse-trial/953798/1046 "2021-11-19T18:14:02Z")
Verdict just read in court. Not guilty on all counts. ---
**Author:** ![SmellMyWort](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea5d25/32.png) [@SmellMyWort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmellMyWort)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2021, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rittenhouse-trial/953798/1047 "2021-11-19T18:16:09Z")
Disappointing, but not surprising. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2021, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rittenhouse-trial/953798/1048 "2021-11-19T18:17:23Z")
> [@SmellMyWort](#): > > Disappointing, but not surprising . Agreed. I guess we’ll see more of this behavior in the future. ---
**Author:** ![eschrodinger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschrodinger/32/122_2.png) [@eschrodinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschrodinger)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2021, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rittenhouse-trial/953798/1049 "2021-11-19T18:19:53Z")
> [@mmmiiikkkeee](#): > > So does this mean the judge can decide to accept a “not guilty” verdict (if he likes it), even if it becomes apparent that yes, the prosecution totally cheated and the trial was inherently unfair? Shouldn’t a mistrial be mandatory if that’s what the facts indicate? There isn’t much to the “accept” part. Just things like, if the jury wrote something like, “not guilty, vote 10-2”, the court can say, that’s not a valid verdict. It’s primarily a procedural thing. Once the defendant has been _acquitted_ by a jury, he cannot be tried again by the same sovereign (here, the state of Wisconsin) no matter what happened in that trial. Jeopardy has attached. ---
**Author:** ![eschrodinger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschrodinger/32/122_2.png) [@eschrodinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschrodinger)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2021, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rittenhouse-trial/953798/1050 "2021-11-19T18:20:26Z")
> [@SmellMyWort](#): > > Disappointing, but not surprising. Yes. Exactly my thoughts. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2021, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rittenhouse-trial/953798/1051 "2021-11-19T18:20:27Z")
Yep. Threatening protestors with guns has been fully condoned here. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2021, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rittenhouse-trial/953798/1052 "2021-11-19T18:21:01Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > Threatening protestors with guns has been fully condoned here. Threatening _ **and** _ shooting. ---
**Author:** ![Martin\_Hyde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/47e85d/32.png) [@Martin\_Hyde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martin_Hyde)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2021, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rittenhouse-trial/953798/1053 "2021-11-19T18:21:08Z")
He wasn’t charged with that, so no that hasn’t been “condoned.” He was charged with homicides, and was acquitted because he was found to be acting in self-defense. ---
**Author:** ![eschrodinger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschrodinger/32/122_2.png) [@eschrodinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschrodinger)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2021, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rittenhouse-trial/953798/1054 "2021-11-19T18:21:55Z")
Maybe next time we’ll have a full-on shoot out, as discussed in hypothetical form earlier in the thread. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2021, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rittenhouse-trial/953798/1055 "2021-11-19T18:22:16Z")
> [@Martin\_Hyde](#): > > He wasn’t charged with that, so no that hasn’t been “condoned.” The jury, perhaps correctly, found him not guilty. That verdict condoned all of his behavior, including but not limited to showing up looking for trouble with a gun. ---
**Author:** ![Martin\_Hyde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/47e85d/32.png) [@Martin\_Hyde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martin_Hyde)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2021, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rittenhouse-trial/953798/1056 "2021-11-19T18:23:38Z")
No, it did not. The jury cannot convict someone because they disapprove of behavior that is factually legal, or that is not part of the charges. They can rule on the case before them. He was never on trial for walking around the streets with a gun, something that the 1000+ posts just won’t convince you people of, I get that you don’t like that people are allowed to walk around with guns. That isn’t the law. Juries don’t rule on your preferences, they rule on whether evidence presented in court meets the burden of proof for specifically delineated crimes that have specific statutory definitions. ---
**Author:** ![eschrodinger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschrodinger/32/122_2.png) [@eschrodinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschrodinger)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2021, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rittenhouse-trial/953798/1057 "2021-11-19T18:23:50Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > That verdict condoned all of his behavior, including but not limited to showing up looking for trouble with a gun. Eh, I wouldn’t say that. But sure, some people will definitely take it that way. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2021, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rittenhouse-trial/953798/1058 "2021-11-19T18:25:10Z")
> [@eschrodinger](#): > > Eh, I wouldn’t say that. But sure, some people will definitely take it that way . That’s all I’m saying. This behavior will continue. That’s a bad thing. Not the jury’s fault, necessarily. But still a bad thing ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2021, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rittenhouse-trial/953798/1059 "2021-11-19T18:25:19Z")
Disgusting. I hope the protests are large, loud, and completely non-violent. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2021, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rittenhouse-trial/953798/1060 "2021-11-19T18:26:43Z")
His actions have been condoned. He started out by threatening the protestors by pointing a gun at them. When they tried to take it away, he shot them. I would agree that some of the charged of 1st degree murder would have been inappropriate, but by acquitting him on _all_ charges, yes, that condones that sort of action. Up next, within the next few months, will be the case where someone shoots dead the person pointing their gun at a group of demonstrators. It will be interesting to see if that sort of action is also condoned. If it is, well, that leads us down a bloody road. If it is not, then that means that we only have freedom of speech if it doesn’t upset anyone with guns. ---
**Author:** ![Martin\_Hyde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/47e85d/32.png) [@Martin\_Hyde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martin_Hyde)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2021, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rittenhouse-trial/953798/1061 "2021-11-19T18:27:10Z")
It was never demonstrated to any high degree of evidence he pointed a gun at anyone until he was being attacked. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2021, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rittenhouse-trial/953798/1062 "2021-11-19T18:27:11Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > I hope the protests are large, loud, and completely non-violent. I’m not sure there is a reason for protests. The jury did their job in good faith. We shouldn’t take to the streets every time a jury does something different then we would prefer. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rittenhouse-trial/953798.md?page=52) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rittenhouse-trial/953798.md?page=54)