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KENOSHA, Wisconsin – The Kyle Rittenhouse trial lasted two weeks, with dozens of witnesses, evidence photos and video clips, and testimony from Mr. Rittenhouse himself, charged with willful and reckless homicide and other crimes, shoots two men and injures a third.
The jury in the Kenosha, Wisconsin courtroom watched attentively and scribbled notes during the opening statements and eight days of testimony. Closing arguments are expected from both sides on Monday.
Here are six key points from the study:
The defendant takes a position
Mr. Rittenhouse testified in his own defense and made his first full public account of the shootings. For several hours he answered questions from attorneys, most of whom looked composed but occasionally burst into tears, while his mother, Wendy, sobbed in the stands of the courtroom.
He insisted that he had been asked in August 2020 by the owner of Car Source, a company that suffered damage and arson during demonstrations over the police shooting of a Kenosha resident, to go to downtown Kenosha in August 2020 walk. Mr. Rittenhouse told the jury that he feared for his life and acted in self-defense when he shot three people to death. In cross-examination, Mr. Rittenhouse was put at the risk that Joseph Rosenbaum, who had no gun, gave up when Mr. Rittenhouse shot him.
“If I had taken my gun from Mr. Rosenbaum, he would have used it and killed me with it and probably killed more people,” said Mr. Rittenhouse.
The judge expresses his frustration
Judge Bruce Schroeder has a reputation for being tough on conviction, but especially vocal about the rights of the defendants during the trial. This was particularly evident in the Rittenhouse trial, when Judge Schroeder reprimanded a public prosecutor, Thomas Binger, for what the judge viewed as violating his orders.
“You are a seasoned trial attorney and you tell me that when the judge says, ‘I’m ruling this out,’ you’re going to take it upon yourself to file it because you think you’ve found a way to get around it? Come on, ”said Judge Schröder.
A witness downplays a threat
Jason Lackowski, a former Marine who was among the gunmen who arrived in Kenosha after seeing reports of destruction during two nights of rioting, testified as a prosecution witness in what appears to undermine Mr. Rittenhouse’s allegation that Mr. Rosenbaum posed a deadly threat. Mr Lackowski told the court that Mr Rosenbaum mocked him and a group of armed people like him who said they decided to come to the area because they wanted to defend local businesses.
“After he had done that a few times, I turned my back on him and ignored him,” said Mr. Lackowski, who dismissed Mr. Rosenbaum as “a babbling idiot”.
Testimony to a close encounter
Richie McGinniss, a videographer for The Daily Caller, a Conservative website, was perhaps the next to witness the shooting of Mr. Rosenbaum who testified at the trial. Mr. McGinniss ran after Mr. Rittenhouse and Mr. Rosenbaum when their pursuit began, and he was only yards away when Mr. Rittenhouse fired his gun.
Understand Kyle Rittenhouse’s exam
Kyle Rittenhouse, 18, is on trial for the murder of two people protesting the police shooting of a black man in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
Mr. McGinniss is both a witness for the prosecution and a named victim. One of the charges against Mr. Rittenhouse accused him of ruthlessly compromising the safety of Mr. McGinniss, who said he was quick to check that he was also shot.
But he also made a testimony that violated the prosecution’s case by saying that Mr. Rosenbaum first pounced on Mr. Rittenhouse and reached for the barrel of the gun.
When the two of them sat together in an SUV when Mr. Rosenbaum was dying, Mr. McGinniss tried to calm him down, he testified.
“I just told him we’d have a beer afterwards and everything would be fine,” said a shaken Mr. McGinniss.
The lonely survivor speaks
Gaige Großkreutz, the only survivor of the shooting in Kenosha, was an important witness for the prosecution, who testified that he feared for his life when he met Mr. Rittenhouse. Mr Großkreutz, a 28-year-old paramedic, was shot in the arm by Mr Rittenhouse after following him on the run through the street. Mr. Grosskreutz testified that he ran in the direction of the gunshots to treat those injured by the gunshots.
Herr Großkreutz, who was carrying a pistol, and Herr Rittenhouse stood opposite each other in the street shortly after Herr Rittenhouse shot Herr Rosenbaum and Anthony Huber.
The 6 charges against Kyle Rittenhouse
Map 1 of 5
Count 1: Reckless First Degree Murder. Kyle Rittenhouse is charged with this crime in connection with the fatal shooting of Joseph D. Rosenbaum. Wisconsin law defines the crime as the reckless cause of death in circumstances that completely disregard human life.
Counts 2 and 5: 1st degree recklessly endangering security. Mr Rittenhouse is alleged to have recklessly endangered two people who were reportedly shot but not hit: Richard McGinnis and an unidentified man who can be seen in the video for the episode.
Count 3: First degree willful homicide. Mr. Rittenhouse faces these charges in connection with the fatal shooting of Anthony M. Huber. The crime, analogous to first degree murder in other states, is defined as causing the death of another person with the intention of killing that person or another person.
Count 4: Attempted first degree homicide. Mr. Rittenhouse faces this charge in connection with the shooting of Gaige P. Großkreutz, who was beaten and wounded.
Counting point 6: Possession of a dangerous weapon by a person under the age of 18. While Wisconsin is an “open-ported” state where it is legal for adults to openly carry firearms, state law prohibits minors from doing so. Mr. Rittenhouse was 17 years old at the time of filming.
“What was going through your head at that moment?” Mr Binger, the public prosecutor, asked in court.
“That I would die,” said Grosskreutz.
On interrogation by the defense, Mr. Großkreutz admitted that Mr. Rittenhouse had shot after Mr. Großkreutz had approached him several meters away with Mr. Großkreutz’s gun in the direction of Mr. Rittenhouse.
An officer gives his perspective
Kenosha Police Officer Pep Moretti spoke publicly for the first time about his role in the case and how police officers reacted on the night of the shootings. His testimony indicated that he was partly responsible for not arresting Mr Rittenhouse right after the shootings in the chaotic streets of the city. After Mr. Rittenhouse shot three people, he approached Officer Moretti’s patrol car as a gesture of surrender, but police officers ordered him out of the way and hurried down the street to help the victims in search of an active shooter.
Officer Moretti testified that he did not interpret Mr. Rittenhouse’s actions as an attempt to surrender. He said that during the days of the protests and rioting, many people in the crowd carried firearms and other weapons – and that it was not uncommon for someone to turn to officials with their hands up during the riot.
“There were probably more people armed with weapons than not throughout the course of the unrest,” he said.
“So it wouldn’t mean a lot to you at this point to see someone with an AR-15?” Asked James Kraus, a prosecutor.
“At this point that night, no,” Officer Moretti said.
