LUCK BE A LADY (JUSTICE?) 5
Sixth Circuit opinion on the matter.
Ultimately, the case could
end up before the Supreme Court.
Lucky you, Sixth Circuit!
On the same day the Panel conducted a lottery, a circuit
court in Kenosha, Wisconsin took the spotlight as the
Rittenhouse case closed.
The highly publicized trial that
focused on self-defense, firearms, and summer protests
featured explosive exchanges between Judge Bruce Schroder
and lead prosecutor Thomas Binger. But the case drew even
more curious eyes as Judge Schroeder invited defendant
Rittenhouse to stick his hand into a lottery hopper, filled with
the names of 18 men and women who heard the two weeks of
testimony.
Rittenhouse removed 6 numbers from the tumbler,
leaving 12 to decide his fate.
A court official collected the
papers and showed them to prosecutors.
The U.S.
Constitution’s Sixth Amendment entitles a criminal defendant
to a jury of his peers, but perhaps this was the first time some
had observed a defendant physically select his own panel.
Wisconsin Statute 805.08(2) provides that additional jurors may
be selected for a case. If, at the time the case is submitted, more
jurors remain empaneled than needed, the court “determine[s]
by lot which jurors shall not initially participate in
Hsu, supra note 2. (Authors note: Since the drafting of this blog
post in December 2021, the Sixth Circuit concluded the stay of the
OSHA regulation was not justified. See Mass. Bldg. Trades Council
v. United States DOL (In re MCP No. 165), Nos. 21-7000, 21-4027, 21-
4028, 21-4031, 21-4032, 21-4033, 21-4080, 21-4082, 21-4083, 21-4084,
2021 U.S. App. LEXIS 37349 (6th Cir. Dec. 17, 2021). However, in
January 2022 the Supreme Court of the United States disagreed and
blocked the vaccine or test mandate for most large employers, but
allowed the rule to remain for employees of medical facilities that
accept Medicare or Medicaid funds. See Nat'l Fed’n of Indep. Bus. v.
DOL, OSHA, 142 S. Ct. 661 (2022).
What Legal Experts Make of Judge’s Order for Rittenhouse to Draw Jury
By Lottery, NBC Chicago (November 17, 2021, 5:01 AM),
https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/national-international/what-
legal-experts-make-of-judges-order-for-rittenhouse-to-draw-his-
own-jury-by-lottery/2686598/ (Hereinafter, “NBC Chicago”).
NBC Chicago, supra note 24.