<mediadc-video-embed data-state="{"cms.site.owner":{"_ref":"00000161-3486-d333-a9e9-76c6fbf30000","_type":"00000161-3461-dd66-ab67-fd6b93390000"},"cms.content.publishDate":1655758948493,"cms.content.publishUser":{"_ref":"0000017d-fe9d-da96-ad7d-ffbf8a5c0000","_type":"00000161-3461-dd66-ab67-fd6b933a0007"},"cms.content.updateDate":1655758948493,"cms.content.updateUser":{"_ref":"0000017d-fe9d-da96-ad7d-ffbf8a5c0000","_type":"00000161-3461-dd66-ab67-fd6b933a0007"},"rawHtml":"
var _bp = _bp||[]; _bp.push({ "div": "Brid_55753902", "obj": {"id":"27789","width":"16","height":"9","video":"1036819"} }); ","_id":"00000181-82ec-df44-ad8b-c3ee7d590000","_type":"2f5a8339-a89a-3738-9cd2-3ddf0c8da574"}”>Video EmbedA Wisconsin judge declined to allow a change of venue for Darrell Brooks Jr., the suspect in last November’s deadly Waukesha Christmas parade attack.
Judge Jennifer Dorow denied motions Monday to move the trial out of Waukesha County or to bring in jurors from an outside county. Defense attorneys for Brooks argued that their client could not receive a fair trial in the county.
DARRELL BROOKS JR. PLEADS NOT GUILTY IN WAUKESHA PARADE MASSACRE
“It is clear to this court that a change of venue is not required. This court is committed to ensuring that the rights of Mr. Brooks to a fair trial, in an impartial jury, are protected,” Dorow said. “There is no doubt in this court’s mind that an impartial jury can and will be impaneled in Waukesha County.”
Christmas Parade SUV
The jury will be under modified sequestration, in which jurors will be allowed to return home each night.
“Once a jury of 16 is impaneled, juries will be sequestered at the courthouse during each day of trial but allowed to return home at the end of the day,” the judge said, adding, “These jurors will meet each day at a different undisclosed location for transport to the courthouse by the clerk’s office and law enforcement. This will ensure that jurors are kept separate from victims, witnesses, attorneys, and the media.”
Dorow referenced the trial of Kyle Rittenhouse and said the court will refer to how it runs its proceedings “as the Kenosha way.”
Jurors in the Rittenhouse case were not sequestered but were instructed not to discuss the case when they left the courtroom. Rittenhouse shot and killed two people during the 2020 riots in Kenosha, just an hour south of Waukesha, days after the August shooting of Jacob Blake, a black man, by police. Rittenhouse was found not guilty of all charges in the homicide trial against him Nov. 19, and he has maintained that his actions were necessary for self-defense.
“This was a prophylactic used during the highly publicized trial of Kyle Rittenhouse last year and one which this court viewed as being appropriate and meeting the needs to ensure a fair and impartial jury,” Dorow said.
Defense attorneys cited pretrial publicity and the broad effect on the county as reasons for a change of venue. Questionnaires sent to possible jurors under order of the judge earlier this year showed nearly half, or 46%, of the 1,500 people who returned them by June 16 had attended the parade or knew someone who did, as reported by FOX6.
Brooks, 40, is accused of plowing his SUV into paradegoers along the route, killing six and injuring more than 60.
In February, he pleaded not guilty to the 77 charges he faces, including six counts of first-degree intentional homicide, 61 counts of first-degree recklessly endangering safety, six counts of hit-and-run resulting in death, two counts of felony bail jumping, and two counts of misdemeanor battery.
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The trial is scheduled for October and is expected to last a month.
