The judge doesn’t want to declare a mistrial, even though he could.
The prosecutor wants a mistrial, and the judge isn’t going to give it to him. Judge can always grant the pending motion for a mistrial if the jury convicts.
Judge knows the jury is going to find Rittenhouse not guilty, so he is not going to bail out the prosecution. The judge is not going to allow the prosecutor to blame the judge for a mistrial or directed verdict.
The Judge can still do those things of the jury convicts Rittenhouse.
Judge has been on the bench for 40 years, so he knows the games dishonest prosecutors play.
As a very naive watcher, how can a judge sense what the jurors are thinking? I’m sure this is true for a veteran judge, but I’m curious what he looks for or what he sees to believe a non guilty verdict. This is quite interesting. Thanks for your answer.
“The prosecutor wants a mistrial, and the judge isn’t going to give it to him.”
I suspected that. The deliberate violating of key court orders regarding evidence looked to me like he was trying to get a mistrial declared.