{"id":1011591,"date":"2021-11-14T14:43:33","date_gmt":"2021-11-14T19:43:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1011591"},"modified":"2021-11-14T14:43:35","modified_gmt":"2021-11-14T19:43:35","slug":"legal-expert-judge-should-not-allow-rittenhouse-jury-to-consider-firearms-charge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/legal-expert-judge-should-not-allow-rittenhouse-jury-to-consider-firearms-charge\/","title":{"rendered":"Legal Expert: Judge Should Not Allow Rittenhouse Jury to Consider Firearms Charge"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Flegal-expert-judge-should-not-allow-rittenhouse-jury-to-consider-firearms-charge%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1011591&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/GettyImages-1236522169-640x335-1.png\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" \/><\/div>\n<p class=\"subheading\">George Washington University\u2019s Jonathan Turley believes testimony and Judge Bruce Schroeder\u2019s observations in Kyle Rittenhouse\u2019s trial have undercut the firearms charge and that said charge ought not be heard by the jury.<\/p>\n<p>On November 12, 2021, Breitbart News <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/politics\/2021\/11\/12\/judge-skeptical-of-weapons-charge-in-kyle-rittenhouse-trial\/\">noted<\/a> that Schroeder expressed skepticism about the state gun law and&nbsp;said he would let the charge go to the jury, but would allow the defense to include an instruction that pointed out the exceptions in the law \u2014 a hurdle that would make it more difficult for the prosecution to prove guilt.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"D-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"gmxrevmore\" class=\"H\"><\/figure>\n<p>On November 14, 2021, Turley <a href=\"https:\/\/jonathanturley.org\/2021\/11\/14\/was-rittenhouses-possession-of-the-ar-15-unlawful\/\">wrote<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote readability=\"9\">\n<p>In covering the motions hearing last week in the trial of Kyle Rittenhouse, I noted a surprising comment from Judge Bruce Schroeder that he had \u201cspent hours\u201d with the Wisconsin gun law and could not state with certainty what it means in this case. The statement could effectively knock out the misdemeanor gun possession count \u2014 the one count that could still be in play for the jury after the prosecution\u2019s case on the more serious offense&nbsp;appeared to collapse in court. A close examination of that provision reveals ample reason to question not just its meaning but its application to this case.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\" readability=\"10.378378378378\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">If Rittenhouse were convicted on that count, it could face a serious challenge on appeal. Indeed, it is curious is why Schroeder would even submit the count to the jury if it is uncontested that Rittenhouse was 17\u2026 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/rEHNq9EHS5\">https:\/\/t.co\/rEHNq9EHS5<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Jonathan Turley (@JonathanTurley) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JonathanTurley\/status\/1459911025097068545?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">November 14, 2021<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Turley noted:<\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B2\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<blockquote readability=\"11\">\n[Judge Schroeder] told the prosecutors \u201cI have been wrestling with this statute with, I\u2019d hate to count the hours I\u2019ve put into it, I\u2019m still trying to figure out what it says, what\u2019s prohibited. I have a legal education.\u201d He added that he failed to understand how an \u201cordinary citizen\u201d could understand what is illegal.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Turley also pointed out the prosecution seemed to be \u201clearning\u201d about the gun law during Rittenhouse\u2019s own testimony:<\/p>\n[Prosecutor Thomas Binger] pressed Rittenhouse on why he did not just purchase a handgun rather than an AR-15. Rittenhouse replied he could not possess a hand gun at his age. Binger then asked in apparent disbelief that the law allowed him to have an AR-15 but not a handgun and Rittenhouse said yes.&nbsp; Binger then moved on after seemingly drawing out a point for the defense.<\/p>\n<p>Turley ultimately suggested the firearms charge ought not go to the jury:<\/p>\n<blockquote readability=\"8\">\n<p>It is hard to understand how the count could be given to the jury without a clear understanding of what it means. It is also hard to instruct a jury on an ambiguous statute. Criminal laws are supposed to be interpreted narrowly. It is called the \u201crule of lenity\u201d and has been around in the English system for centuries.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>He believes the clearest part of the law is a ban on minors possessing short-barreled rifles. But Turley observed, \u201cRittenhouse used a Smith &amp; Wesson MP-15 with&nbsp;an advertised&nbsp;barrel length of 16 inches and the overall length is 36.9 inches. That is not a short barrel.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em>AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News<\/em><em>&nbsp;and the writer\/curator of&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/downrange\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Down Range with AWR Hawkins<\/a>,&nbsp;<\/em><em>a weekly newsletter focused o<\/em><em>n al<\/em><em>l things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio and a Turning Point USA Ambassador. Follow him on Instagram:&nbsp;<\/em><em><a class=\"x5l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/awr_hawkins\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external\">@awr_hawkins<\/a>. Reach him at&nbsp;<a class=\"x5l\" href=\"mailto:awrhawkins@breitbart.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external\">awrhawkins@breitbart.com<\/a>. You can sign up to get Down Range at&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/downrange\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">breitbart.com\/downrange<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>George Washington University\u2019s Jonathan Turley believes testimony and Judge Bruce Schroeder\u2019s observations in Kyle Rittenhouse\u2019s trial have undercut the firearms charge and that said charge ought not be heard by &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1011591","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1011591","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1011591"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1011591\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1011591"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1011591"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1011591"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}