In the Kyle Rittenhouse case three outcomes were possible, two of which served justice, and one of which did not. The jury could have either returned a guilty verdict on at least one count, not guilty on all counts, or at least one guilty verdict followed by the judge granting the defense’s motion for a mistrial. The first two outcomes serve justice, while the third would not have. Kyle Rittenhouse has been found not guilty on all charges by a jury of his peers. Already people are denying justice occurred.
Both a guilty and a not guilty verdict could have been supported by the evidence. Beyond the fact pattern difficulty with the prosecution’s case they had self inflicted wounds, such as opening the door to allowing mental illness evidence that otherwise would have been excluded by the judge’s ruling. This leads us to the a fundamental question. What is justice?
Justice is getting one’s due. Both the victims and the defendant deserve justice in a criminal proceeding. The victims are the individuals who were shot no more, no less. The only issue decided in a criminal proceeding is whether a crime occurred. Had the judge declared a mistrial after a guilty verdict justice would not have occurred. Having a trial and bringing the issue to the jury gives justice from a criminal law perspective. That occurred, and the verdict isn’t unreasonable given the facts and the prosecution’s self inflicted wounds. The victims in this case received justice.
Jacob Blake has absolutely nothing to do with the Kyle Rittenhouse trial. Rittenhouse was on trial for his actions; not anything to do with what happened to Jacob Blake. To try and use this trial as a proxy for racial tensions is entirely inappropriate. The overall environment in which the shootings at issue in this trial occurred is irrelevant to the issue the jury had to decide. Defendants are not guilty until their guilt is proven beyond a reasonable doubt. Just as importantly, all defendants are on trial for their actions. To bring in Jacob Blake and use this trial as a proxy for race relations is to deny Kyle Rittenhouse justice.
The cries that justice did not occur are rooted in the cry for social justice. Arguing social justice demands a conviction in a tangential matter is a threat to the criminal justice system and should be universally condemned in the strongest terms possible. We cannot let our fundamental principles of criminal jurisprudence fall to the cry for social justice.
We never were going to have healing with this trial. The intentional marrying of this issue to an overall social justice cry ensured civil disquiet would become worse regardless of the verdict. However, this isn’t just a national issue. Here in Harris County we have an analogous disquiet brewing regarding defendants out on felony bail. While we rightly condemn the number of individuals out on felony bond and the subsequent crimes they commit we must remember they, too, need to be held accountable solely for their specific actions and not fall to a cry for social justice against repeat offenders. The use of social justice as a consideration in a criminal trial leaves us all worse off.
Greg needs to stay with Social Security law. There was only one possible just decision supported by the evidence, the one that occurred. Greg’s so called victims were not victims; they were actually the aggressors.
Be civil Don.
Counts 1, 2, 4, and 5 are clear cases of self defense. Count 3 is less clear. It appears that Maurice Freeland aka jump kick man had disengaged.
The jury made the right call by assessing reasonable doubt with count three, but it wasn’t a clear cut case of self defense like the other four counts.
Kyle was literally set upon by a violent mob. Jump Kick Man attacked him as part of a mob. To put this in Rambo terms, Jump Kick Man drew first blood, and Kyle shot at him almost immediately, while having to assess the threat from the other attackers, and the rest of the growing mob surrounding him. All that happened in a matters of a seconds. And the fact that Freeland was such a POS, even more of a POS than the others, the persecutor didn’t even call him as a ‘victim,’ and worse, wouldn’t identify him to the defense, as they are supposed to do via Brady, and also the 6th Amendment, also should be a clear indication that it absolutely was a case of self defense to shoot at Freeland.
Kyle’s response was absolutely appropriate. If, after watching all the carnage of last year, including the deaths and serious injuries, and after watching Kenosha go up in flames the previous two nights, you still think, along with Fatlock, that Kyle should have just taken the beating (or worse) from Jump Kick Man and the rest of the mob….I mean, I really can’t explain it to you.
It ought to be self evident; it was absolutely clear cut. As an example, when is the last time you ran up to a stranger on the street and kicked that stranger in the head? Never sound about right? Why? Because you just don’t do that. Anyone that does….it’s a clear threat to the life of the victim that needs to be dealt with. Kyle stopped the threat, even though he missed. If you were savagely attacked by a mob, I’d hope someone like Kyle was there to save you.
Still, God was with Kyle that night….there’s no other way to explain how he made it out of there alive.
Social Justice, as it exists today, is an oxymoron. The term social justice is being used as a political weapon by the left and it has nothing whatsoever to do with justice.
And that’s the fundamental reason social justice has no place in the criminal justice system.
It’s a threat to every one of us.
Right. It was a threat to Kyle. And it was the punishment of Kyle, as in, the process IS the punishment. Kyle spent 3 months in the hole (solitary confinement) for a crime he didn’t commit, plus the cost of defense, which would probably have equaled the cost of a college education, plus the emotional torture of being faced with life in prison.
Kyle was tortured BECAUSE of ‘social justice.’
“The victims are the individuals who were shot no more, no less.”
nope, those idiots chased their own demise with passion and were quite successful
Jumpkick man was well known to the prosecutors. They intentionally did not want his input or the scrutiny it would bring. Jim Krause (aka Fatlock) actually had ‘HandBreak’ video compression software on his laptop. It was exposed the Monday AFTER the judge decided he didn’t want the video used. He may very well get charged for tampering with evidence. It was insightful to watch the Rekieta Law website during this trial and also follow Andrew Branca.
Greg,
Anyone who saw 3 minutes of video a year ago, or, 45 minutes of extended video last year knew with certainty that the victim that day was KYLE. The career criminal thugs/communists/mentally ill who all attacked Kyle first weren’t victims, they are/were perpetrators. The two who weren’t shot dead should both be facing charges and trial for their crimes, but of course, that doesn’t fit with the Soros backed DA’s goal of anarcho-tyranny in the streets, where decent citizens are terrorized and criminals with the right political leanings are protected and allowed to run wild.
I mean, wow. How you get this so wrong is shocking. We should find an innocent kid guilty of something just to appease a lynch mob of America hating racists and communists? Really? Really? I sure hope you never find yourself having to defend yourself or your loved ones in Harris County, because have no doubt that if you choose to not “just take your beating” or choose not to be killed, know up front that Soros backed Kim Ogg will do to you exactly what they did to clearly innocent Kyle. Bankrupt you, psychologically torture you, and try to take away your liberty.
Some seem to be hung up on the victim sentence.
A trial is presented through the eyes of the state. The state has Kyke as the defendant and those shot as victims. The state impuned Kyle based on the whole social justice narrative. That’s wholly improper, and what the victims are the ones shot no more no less is referring.