A judge dismissed a juror Thursday morning in the Kyle Rittenhouse homicide trial who made a joke to a deputy about the officer-involved shooting of Jacob Blake.
On Wednesday, prosecutors asked Kenosha County Circuit Judge Bruce E. Schroeder to remove a juror after he reportedly made a joke to a deputy.
Kenosha County Assistant District Attorney Thomas Binger said the joke was along the lines of, “Why did the Kenosha Police shoot Jacob Blake seven times? Because they ran out of bullets.”
The juror acknowledged he made the joke and refused to repeat it to Schroeder.
“It is clear that the appearance of bias is present and it would seriously undermine the outcome of the case. That in itself would be sufficient cause for discharge,” Schroeder said.
Juror #7 was dismissed by Schroeder Thursday morning. 19 jurors remain.
On Wednesday, a social media content creator and a police detective were both called to testify during the trial.
Koerri Washington, a social media content creator, testified for approximately an hour on Tuesday and finished his testimony on Wednesday.
Washington had taken video footage of the civil unrest in Kenosha on the night Rittenhouse shot Joseph Rosenbaum, Anthony Huber and Gaige Grosskreutz, killing two of them.
Washington, who described what he saw that night, said that Rosenbaum was acting erratic but noted that he “appeared to be operating like everyone else.”
He said that he thought Rittenhouse, like others, seemed nervous that night. “He seemed nervous in the situation. But I suppose a lot of people are nervous. It’s not a slight at him. It’s just a mental note that I made.”
After the defense and prosecutors cross-examined Washington, Kenosha Police Department Detective Martin Howard was called to the stand.
Howard was assigned to the Rittenhouse case just before midnight on August 25, 2020.
Graphic videos showing the shooting of Rosenbaum, Huber and Grosskreutz were played in court for the jury throughout Wednesday’s testimony.
Kenosha County Assistant District Attorney Thomas Binger pointed out that Joshua Ziminski fired the first shot heard in the videos.
Howard said that Ziminski walked slowly southbound on Sheridan Road in Kenosha and fired one shot into the air near Car Source.
Howard confirmed that Rittenhouse then fired four shots from his AR-15, striking Rosenbaum four times.
Seconds later, three additional shots, not fired by Rittenhouse, were heard in the area, Howard said.
The video showed Rittenhouse then running down Sheridan Road before shooting Huber and Grosskreutz, who were seen running up to him in the roadway.
The court adjourned Wednesday shortly before 5 p.m. as the defense was cross-examining Howard.