Following their finding of Kyle Rittenhouse not guilty on all charges, the judge in the trial of Rittenhouse for a shooting resulting in the death of two people told jurors they could talk to the media as much or as little as they liked, but were under no obligation to talk to reporters at all.

Following the verdict, Kenosha County (Wisconsin) Circuit Court Judge Bruce Schroeder praised the jury highly for its attentiveness and cooperation, then provided them with some instructions about dealing with the media. Rittenhouse was on trial for the shooting deaths of two unarmed men and the shooting of a third during police brutality protests in Kenosha, Wisconsin, in August 2020. 

Schroeder said a number of outlets wanted to talk to jurors and that he would allow them to make presentations in writing. It was entirely up to jurors whether they wanted to contact those outlets, he said, but “they are not to contact you.”

He said jurors who are contacted and did not want to talk should say they are not interested in discussing the case, adding: “If anyone persists in doing so, report that to us and it will be addressed, I assure you.”

The judge had banned MSNBC from the court building earlier in the week after a freelance producer appeared to follow the juror bus after they left the court for the day, then got a traffic ticket that brought that fact to light.

Defense attorney Mark Richards was asked after the verdict about the trial being televised. He said he had never had a case televised gavel-to-gavel before and did not know at the start how big the case would be, but he said he did not think televising the trial made the jury or lawyers act differently.

CNN analysts suggested that TV coverage was helpful in preventing a potentially violent reaction to the verdict, given that people were able to see how each side made their case and see Rittenhouse's emotional testimony. ■

Chinese tech company Huawei said it has achieved 2 Gbps download speeds during 5G fixed wireless download trials being jointly conducted with British wireless operator Three UK.

Huawei said the trials utilized the 100MHz C-Band spectrum and that speeds actually averaged around 1 Gbps over time.

With cable operators vested in DOCSIS 3.1-powered HFC networks, the speed boast will undoubtedly raise interest. Verizon has deployed 5G fixed wireless in a number of U.S. markets, but speeds average around 300 Mbps, topping out at just under 1 Gbps.

In the UK, Three recently committed to spending more than $2.5 billion to deliver 5G services.

Network technology vendor Huawei, of course, faces steep hurdles in markets including Australia and the U.S.m which believe its products provide the means for Chinese operatives to conduct espionage.

"Huawei will continue to work with Three UK to bring customers more market-leading commercial applications of 5G," Huawei 5G product line president Yang Chaobin said in a statement.

On the heels of its successful Live PD crime docuseries collaboration, A+E Networks is again teaming with legal TV commentator Dan Abrams to launch a new true-crime network built around live court coverage.

The Law & Crime network taps into the former Court TV programming model of featuring predominately live coverage of ongoing criminal court cases from around the country during the daytime hours, along with original analysis and talk/documentary programming in the evening, Abrams said.

‘Thirst for Real Content’
“It’s a 24/7 live trial network,” said Abrams, who worked at Court TV during the 1990s and currently serves as a legal analyst for ABC’s Good Morning America. “I see that there is a real hole in the marketplace — there’s a thirst for live content and for real content.”

The network features a team of lawyer anchors who will cover and analyze the daily court proceedings, as well as other original programming to balance out the schedule, Abrams said.

A+E Networks owns an unspecified minority interest in the network, and Abrams said the network will tap into the company’s resources to build awareness and distribution for the channel, though he would not provide specific details.

“They’ve been a great partner so far in helping with everything from distribution to possible acquisitions and growth,” he said. “That investment has allowed us to take it from proof of concept to becoming a full fledged network.”

The network is in discussions with MVPDs but has yet to reach any distribution deals.

Law & Crime is launching into a very crowded television marketplace that features a number of cable networks dedicated to the true-crime category, including Investigation Discovery and Oxygen.

Related: Oxygen to Rebrand as a True Crime Channel

Abrams said Law & Crime’s plan for live programming would separate it from other networks trying to launch and build an audience.

“I think we’ll have a lot easier time than the others because we’re the only game in town when it comes to live trials,” he said. “Every other network I’ve seen pitched is offering some version of either talking-head TV or repurposing content that’s already available elsewhere. We’re offering nine to 12 hours of live programming a day, so we’re immediately distinguished from the rest of the pack because we’ve got so much original, live programming.”

Abrams, who said he will appear on the network on occasion, said his work on A&E’s Live PDunscripted series served as a partial inspiration for Law & Crime. The series, which Abrams co-hosts each week as it follows several police departments around the country in real time as they respond to incidents, is the network’s most watched unscripted documentary series.

Related: ‘Live PD’ Draws Viewers, and Not All Watch Live

“Seeing people wanting to watch the story unfold as it does on Live PD showed me that people are interested in the programming,” he said. “What people want is more of the actual documentary-style programming, news programming, or in this case, live trial programming.”

Showing Live Court Video Now
The network also hopes to offer a streamed over-the-top version within the next month, and network officials are currently talking to various streaming platforms to gain distribution. Abrams said there are no distribution deals to announce yet. The network’s lawandcrime.com website currently offers live court video of high-profile criminal trials along with legal analysis.

“With the ability to have OTT channels, we’re seeing a lot more on-demand viewing, and that comes from an audience that’s passionate about the programming,” he said. “We expect to tap into that passion with Law & Crime.”