MSNBC anchor Joy Reid said Tuesday on her show “The ReidOut” that Kenosha County Circuit Court Judge Bruce Schroeder’s behavior during the Kyle Rittenhouse murder trial shows he is clearly on the side of the defense.
Reid said, “That and his phone going off with the song played at trump rallies. We won’t go into that too deeply. There is a mistrial motion hanging over this. can you explain how there is a mistrial motion hanging while judges are deliberating?”
Network legal analyst and former federal prosecutor Paul Butler said, “There is lots of reasons to be concerned about this judge. When he allowed Mr. Rittenhouse, an accused murderer, to select the jurors, again, objectively by pulling names out of a hat, it was cute, Joy, but the criminal legal system is not looking for the judge in a double-murder trial to do cute things. The public rightly expects the appearance of justice and impartiality. On that level, this judge consistently disappoints from his joke about Asian food to all of the breaks that he’s given the defense. There is a pattern of bias that is troubling. At this moment, Kyle Rittenhouse is innocent in the eyes of the law, but as long as the judge appears to be tipping the scales of justice in Rittenhouse’s favor, the public may not have confidence in the process or the verdict. ”
Reid said, “That’s a question I had, too. Is there any recourse? This judge has done everything but offer to adopt Kyle Rittenhouse. He seems so clearly on his side. Does the prosecution have any recourse if it seems so clear that the judge is already made up his mind that Kyle Rittenhouse — that he’s on — it seems at least to the layperson out there that he’s completely on his side.”
She added, “The absolute difference between the way justice is served to people of color and people who are White. I don’t know how it could be clearer than this.”
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