Judges in Arbery, Rittenhouse cases frustrated as they work to maintain fair trials
ABC News
Judges presiding over the Kyle Rittenhouse homicide trial and the case against three white men in the killing of Ahmaud Arbery have both struggled to maintain fairness.
Under the glare of dueling national spotlights, judges presiding over the Kyle Rittenhouse homicide trial in Wisconsin and the case against three white Georgia men in the death of Ahmaud Arbery have both displayed their ire as they've struggled to maintain fairness in the courtroom.
A display of frustration boiled over from the bench in the Rittenhouse case Wednesday when a visibly angered Judge Bruce Schroeder lambasted the lead prosecutor, accusing him of low-blow antics he said bordered on a "grave constitutional violation."
Brian Buckmire, a New York public defender and ABC News contributor, said both judges have taken actions to maintain fairness in the proceedings and shield the juries from hearing anything unrelated to the evidence they've allowed in the two high-profile cases, despite some of the attorneys seeming to posture for the cameras in the courtroom.
"Judges are very protective of the jury, sometimes even considering it their jury," said Buckmire, who is also an anchor for the Law & Crime Network. "You always want the jury to be pristine, to only make decisions based on the evidence and not because a judge scolded a lawyer or vice versa."