andersweinstein wrote: ↑Tue Nov 02, 2021 1:12 pm
Evidential issue from opening statement: Binger mentions that Rosenbaum "got out ofthe hospital" that day (to explain, I think, that plastic bag he was carrying was the type hospitals give you to hold your belongings, so harmless) and that he visited his girlfriend but could not stay with her (to explain why he was still carrying that bag around with him all night.) Girlfriend will be called by state.
I wondered immediately I heard this. Defense would be pleased if this opened the door to get before the jury that
Rosenbaum was coming from a PSYCHIATRIC hospitalization after being committed for a suicide attempt and also that the reason his girlfriend didn't let him stay is that Rosenbaum was under a no-contact order after battering her (and which he violated by going there at all).
Before jury returned for Richards' opening, Binger spoke pre-emptively to remind judge that this was irrelevant and should be excluded.
Judge said Richards shouldn't mention it in opening statement, but has not ruled, though suggests he's leaning against allowing it.
I was mainly surprised Binger would skate so close to opening the door to it.
Ms. Shrinky Lady here.
Nope. The judge did rule that previous criminal history is off-limits. Rosenbaum's restraining order is linked to criminal behavior prior to his killing.
Rosenbaum's psychiatric issue is irrelevant. He was discharged by the hospital because psychiatrists AND psychologists deemed him to no longer be a risk to self or other. He was hospitalized for, at minimum, a 72 hour. Rosenbaum couldn't leave if he wanted to.
Bringing up Rosenbaum's hospitalization will
backfire on the defense. Why? Psychiatric experts agreed that he was no longer a risk to self or others just
hours before Rosenbaum's killing.
Now, before you start saying that Rosenbaum must of tricked the DOCTORS (psychiatrists AND psychologists are doctors). It's extremely hard to trick yourself out of a psychiatric ward. Doctors rely not just on their evaluations of the patient. They rely on the detailed 24/7 hour reports by psychiatric nurses, reports by group therapists, and reports by the other psychiatric experts who worked with the patient. Oh, and patients see more than one psychiatrist. There's the ER hospital admitting doctor, the psychiatric admitting doctor, the assigned treating psychiatrist, and the relief psychiatrist.
Oh! And there's the fact that Rosenbaum was self-harming. There is
no evidence (available to the public) that Rosenbaum was deemed a risk to others. No on is going to say that throwing a light bag was evidence that Rosenbaum was a risk to others.
Oh, and
it's not a crime to be mentally ill. In fact, the mentally ill are substantially less likely to engage in violence than those not mentally ill.*
Oh, and one could argue that Rosenbaum, esp because of his fragile mental health, was more likely to interpret Rittenhouse to be a serious risk to his own safety.
Oh, and any psychiatrist/psychologist would be extremely reluctant to testify regarding Rosenbaum. Professional ethics forbid psychiatrists/psychologists from diagnosing patients they've never seen. So, the defense can try to call their own psychiatrists/psychologists, but that's a bazillion percent risky because of legally mandated limitations for psychiatric experts. The defense could call the doctors that treated Rosenbaum, with the knowledge that those doctors
will testify that, in their professional opinion,
Rosenbaum was not a risk to self or others the day he was killed.
Those are serious risks to Rittenhouse.
And no, psychiatric patients aren't booted early because of covid.
*The only exception is those diagnosed with schizophrenia who have command hallucinations. Schizophrenia is rare. There is no publicly available evidence that Rosenbaum had schizophrenia.
