A Tale of Two Trials

There are two trials underway in parallel.

The first is in Kenosha Wisconsin where Kyle Rittenhouse is on trial for killing two people and wounding another. Rittenhouse was 17 at the time and went to Wisconsin with his trusty AR-15 to help protect property during BLM demonstrations over the killing of a black man by police.

The actions by Rittenhouse are all on video. The two men he killed and the one he wounded were all white. He is claiming self defense.

The question on the table is basically whether an armed person can shoot and kill unarmed people and still call it self defense. 

There was also a weapons charge for a 17 year old carrying a dangerous weapon. However the statute in question was so ambiguous that the judge dismissed that charge over the objections of the prosecution.

I suspect that Rittenhouse is either going to be acquitted or convicted of a minor lessor charge. I certainly don't see a homicide conviction.

The judge in this case, Bruce Schroeder, has been making himself too much of an issue and is catching a lot of flak.

Meanwhile, down in Georgia, the three men charged with killing Ahmaud Arbery are being tried. In February of 2020 Arbery was jogging through the neighborhood when he was chased down by Gregory McMichael, an ex-police officer, his son Travis McMichael and a neighbor William "Roddie" Bryan.

The two McMichaels claimed they were trying to make a "citizens arrest" because they suspected Arbery of trespassing on an unfinished house in the area. Bryan claims he was just following to see what was going on. Bryan video taped the incident.

Travis McMichael had a shotgun and claims Arbery tried to take the gun away from him. That can be seen struggling over the gun. The struggle resulted in Arbery being shot and killed.

The big story here has been some of the strange interaction between Kevin Gough, lawyer for Roddie Bryan, and the judge. Gough complained about "black pastors," including Jessie Jackson and Al Sharpton, being in the gallery which Judge Timothy Walmsley called "reprehensible." There was also what the judge called clearly racist juror challenges at the start of the trial. The jury finally selected is all white except for one African American.

The judge in this case, in contrast to the Rittenhouse case, has been universally complimented on his professionalism.

I'm not sure where this one is going. It could go either way.