Thread by @Johnmcurtis

The Kyle Rittenhouse Trial

Day 8

Today we will likely hear more on the defense motion to dismiss with prejudice, which was brought up yesterday with the defense claiming prosecution misconduct.

See yesterday’s thread for detailed information.

Expected to testify today are Drew Hernandez and John Black.

Hernandez is an investigative reporter, host of Drew Hernandez Live, and was on the ground in Kenosha reporting on the riots.

Black is a use-of-force and forensic audio/video expert.

The Defense calls Doctor John Black to the stand. Black is a use-of-force and forensic audio/video expert.

Kyle Rittenhouse seated in the courtroom.

The State objected to Dr Blacks testimony claiming it was out of scope. The jury was instructed to leave and the issues was argued before judge Schroeder.

Binger “Yesterday I was the target of your ire”

Binger continued to whine about his own behavior yesterday.

Binger “Yesterday as I said, I was under the courts ire.”

Binger changed his opinion on video evidence accompanied by explanations of what is seen in the video by experts. This was not the case for anytime leading up to today.

Binger “….they can see it on the screen, then we don’t need a witness to tell us what we are seeing.”

I just realized todays thread is labeled Day 8. Today actually is Day 8 of the trial but is Day 9 of my coverage, which included jury selection.

Sorry for the confusion.

Dr Black was permitted to take the stand and playback video. Although his testimony has been an absolute train wreck, mired with many live miscalculations and complete wrong answers.

The Defense is paying him $380 an hour to testify.

Dr Black was released from the stand temporarily to generate reports using the software he used for analysis. The reports would show any alterations he made to audio/video files. Black will take the stand again when the report is complete and Binger will resume questioning.

The Defense calls Officer Britney Bray to the stand. Bray is a City of Kenosha Police Officer.

Officer Bray testified that there were not any live rounds found at the scene where Rittenhouse shot Grosskreutz that matched the caliber of Rittenhouse’s rifle.

She further testified that there was a live round found at that same scene that matched Grosskreutz’s firearm.

The Defense calls Frank Andrew Hernandez aka @DrewHLive to the stand. Drew is many things including an on-the-ground videographer who covered the BLM/Antifa riots of 2020 extensively. He was present in Kenosha and witness the events the night of August 25, 2020.

Hernandez described Antifa and other rioters attacking police and destroying property.

Hernandez has been the only witness to accurately describe the rioters including dropping the dreaded tifa word, throughout the duration of trial.

Binger “You’ve made a lot of videos of what you consider to be Antifa and Black Lives Matter riots….”

Binger “that you call riots. They’re very slanted against the people that are rioting… Antifa BLM rioters correct?”

Hernandez “Because they are rioting…”

Binger questioned Hernandez about his videos and learned that a video viewed in court was a video that was a combination of his body-worn camera and cell phone video. Binger then began questioning about the production of Hernandez’s files for the trial.

Binger questioned why the files were produced through an attorney and the defense objected. The jury was sent to lunch and the two sides hashed out the objection prior to lunch.

Judge Schroeder is going to permit the line of questioning provided he doesn’t step into political boundaries and bias.

Back from lunch.

Binger suggested that Hernandez is being untruthful by reminding him that he is under oath. Judge Schroeder cut Binger off and explained to him that is not permitted as doing so does in fact suggest the witness is lying.

This can influence juries.

The remainder of Hernandez’s testimony was fairly uneventful.

Binger attempted to lure Hernandez into describing events a in certain way that would benefit the State. Hernandez was however quick with his words and did not permit Binger to manipulate him or his testimony.

The Defense rests. Or intends to do so.

The Defense announced that they wanted to publish DeBruins photographs from yesterday to the jury and were permitted to do so.

And the Defense stated that once Dr Black’s software report is complete that they will be ready to rest.

Dr Black returned to the stand and was questioned by Binger regarding his software report.

The Defense followed with a couple of questions.

The jury was sent to break and the court discussed rebuttal by the State which should only include the testimony of the State’s forensic image specialist in regards to the report generated from his software that was requested earlier this morning.

The court also discussed the remaining timeline of the trial. Judge Schroeder wants to wrap things up tomorrow and leave the rest to the jury. Binger wants to hold off until Monday in spite of all evidence being admitted and all testimony being heard.

No decision made.

After returning from break the State forensic image expert answered, or at least attempted to answer, lines of questioning by both sides.

The State intends to publish two photos taken from the enhanced aerial drone video. The photos were again enhanced and blown up.

The Defense is arguing that the images should not be admitted because the expert cannot confirm nor deny if any pixels or colors were changed during enhancement.

Judge Bruce Schroeder watches the video on a 4k television in the courtroom multiple times before deciding to permit the enhanced photo evidence but also allowing the defense to rebut the expert.

The State then moved to keep rebuttals open as they are seeking two new witnesses. One witness will testify that Rittenhouse was not issued a bulletproof vest by a police department. Another potential witness will testify that Rittenhouse is not enrolled in secondary education.

The State calls James Armstrong back to the stand. Armstrong is a senior image forensics specialist with the Wisconsin State Crime Lab.

In spite of objections from the defense, Judge Schroeder permitted two new images from the aerial drone video that were “enhanced” using AI algorithms, to be published to the jury.

The State claims the photo shows Rittenhouse aiming his rifle at Ziminski.

The jury was dismissed for the remainder of the week / weekend and will return on Monday for jury instructions and closing remarks. Judge Schroeder is limiting closing remarks to 2.5 hours for the State and defense each.

Court will resume tomorrow @ 10:00 CST

Let’s examine these “enhanced” or otherwise doctored photos.

Basics: Videos consist of several photos (or frames) per second. In the case of the aerial drone video, there were 30 photos per second.

A quick examination reveals that the two photos are not even the same frame.

Again the photos are not even the same frame.

The photos are not even the exact same ratio. They are close but not equal. The photo on the right is wider than the photo on the left.

The photos are not equally zoomed.

In this video I have placed (not overlayed - no blending function) each still image from the document admitted to evidence, over still frames from the enhanced drone video.

Notice how both images appear to be altered.

Watch multiple times and pause the video for comparison.

Personally I don’t believe Kyle Rittenhouse aimed his rifle at anyone and there is not any evidence to support such a statement. Not even with the “enhanced” photos which only verify that Kyle set the fire extinguisher down.

Perhaps Kyle was facing forward as Poso suggested?

In this video I have placed (not overlayed - no blending function) each still image from the document admitted to evidence, over still frames from the enhanced drone video.

Notice how both images appear to be altered.

New SLOWER version.