dajo9 said:
Unit2, what do you think of the issue of the defense being provided a lower resolution version of the drone video. The process of discovery is incredibly important to the defense. In your opinion, is the video issue:
- Not material
- Worthy of a mistrial
- Worthy of a mistrial with prejudice (it would be hard to convince me of this)
- Something else
Thanks in advance
A couple of thoughts.
First, the facts. It sounds like the drone footage came to the prosecutors after the trial started. That's pretty unusual and may have been a reason to exclude it. The prosecutors then tried to airdrop it to the defense but the defense counsel had Android phones so they couldn't do it that way. Instead they emailed from their iPhone which automatically compressed the video.
So I don't think it's fair to characterize this as some sort of intentional attempt to provide inferior footage to hamstring the defense. On the other hand, video footage is commonly used and there are norms that are typically adhered to, which they didn't do here. Likely because of the timing.
I won't address the technical legal aspects because I'm not a criminal defense lawyer in Wisconsin and haven't researched the law. I'm also not knowledgeable enough about why the judge allowed the footage to be used and whether the defense tried to strike it originally because it came in late. From a "justice" standpoint, I would want to know whether the defense was really disadvantaged by the compression. What were they unable to see from the video footage they received? Without having seen the evidence, I have a hard time believing the compression in and of itself was a difference maker in this trial because I don't remember anyone saying the drone footage was critical to the prosecution's case.
I'm honestly a bit surprised that the defense would want to risk a new trial given how slanted the trial has been in their favor. I understand why they would want a mistrial with prejudice because that's as good as an acquittal, but risking a whole new trial is iffy. The prosecution didn't exactly do a perfect job and they may want to have a do over if they could.