The seriousness of this incident cannot be overstated. It is not simply because the police suspected MSNBC was trying to take their pictures. If the jurors believed that they were being followed, it could add to their unease about voting in the case. jonathanturley.org/2021/11/18/msn…
MSNBC was the subject of an exceptionally rare ban from the courtroom of a high-profile case but it does not appear to have a headline on the development. Various media figures have reported that the network has not responded to calls for statements.
...NBC just released a statement: “Last night, a freelancer received a traffic citation. While the traffic violation took place near the jury van, the freelancer never contacted or intended to contact the jurors during deliberations, and...
...never photographed or intended to photograph them. We regret the incident and will fully cooperate with the authorities on any investigation.”
......NBC's statement is confusing in one respect in starting with "while the traffic violation took place near the jury van." That suggests that it was a coincidence that the traffic accident occurred near the jury van.
It would be useful for NBC to deny the alleged statement of the freelancers that he was told to follow the jury bus. As stated earlier, following the bus is considered a serious breach even if there was no effort to photograph jurors.
...The fact that he is a freelancer is immaterial. News organizations often use freelancers and they are agents of that network.  NBC goes out of its way to note that this person is a freelancer but not whether he was working freelance for NBC at the time.

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More from @JonathanTurley

17 Nov
Over in the Arbery trial, defense counsel has succeeded in a creative framing using alleged shooter Travis McMichael's Coast Guard training. Since he was trained in law enforcement, counsel is allowed to go through his training...
...The result is that McMichael almost sounds like an expert witness in front of the jury on when to properly use force etc. It is a very effective technique by Jason Sheffield.
...I am a little surprised by the laughing in the exchanges. That is never a good idea in a trial of this magnitude. Indeed, the prosecutor could make reference to the fact that the accused was laughing on the stand...
Read 9 tweets
17 Nov
I previously said that we would not likely have a verdict before Wednesday. If there is a deadlock, we could also hear from the jury today since they are likely to have had multiple votes by this point... jonathanturley.org/2021/11/16/rit…
...If there is a deadlock, the jury would send a note to the judge. The judge would ordinarily then send back a note to ask the jury to continue to try to reach a verdict...
There is nothing unusual in the length of deliberations, however. It can be the result of simple due diligence rather than a deadlock.
Read 4 tweets
16 Nov
With the end of closing arguments, the jury now has the case. I remain confused how the sixth count was ever adopted. Even without the grand jury/indictment process, the prosecutor still had to establish the crime in the preliminary examination (PE)...
...I still fail to see how Binger could represent that a crime was committed under the state governing the sixth count. I also fail to understand how a court could have found probable cause to believe a crime was committed on possession...
...Now the jury will consider five counts that are ridiculed with prosecutorial contradictions. I cannot imagine that the prosecution hold much credibility with the jury at this point.
Read 4 tweets
15 Nov
The best part of the defense was the video summation. Richards has the type of rough hewn style that can be appealing to a case with highly localized elements. He scored in calling Binger to account for his alleged misrepresentation of evidence...
...He also laid out an easy course for the jury to follow in its deliberation -- a road map that was missing with Binger. However, the greatest impact was likely the final video as he showed Rittenhouse refraining from using force and then responding to attacks...
Binger also set up Richards attack with the social media posting after he built up Grosskreutz as a heroic figure trying to stop an "active shooter."...
Read 4 tweets
15 Nov
Binger's closing argument had some strong points but he, again, took considerable risks with this jury by mocking the damage caused by Rosenbaum and others. ..
...He also referred to Rosenbaum as harmless and "all bark and no bite." That is glaringly disconnected with this conviction as a child molester and the scenes of him rioting...
...The narrative about the protesters were disconnected from the images that the jury was seeing. I am not sure why Binger felt that need to go as far as he did in his descriptive elements...
Read 4 tweets
15 Nov
Judge Schroeder just dropped the sixth count. It collapsed on the basis previously discussed in the column. jonathanturley.org/2021/11/14/was…
...That is another blow to the prosecution. While only a misdemeanor, it shows the jury that what was promised as proof of the violation did not materialize at trial. There is a serious credibility crisis for the prosecution and this only magnifies any such doubts.
...The loss of the sixth count also removes a default option for the prosecution if the more serious counts collapse. This leaves (even with lesser counts considered) a high cliff for conviction.
Read 4 tweets

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