Defense Rests Case In Rittenhouse Trial

KENOSHA COUNTY, WI — The defense has rested its case in the murder trial for Kyle Rittenhouse.

Kenosha County Assistant District Attorney Thomas Binger and Rittenhouse's attorney Mark Richards will plan to present their closing arguments on Monday and then the jury will begin their deliberations.

Kenosha County Judge Bruce Schroeder decided to forgo wrapping up the case until next week to give the jury a break after eight days of testimony. Schroeder instructed the jury not to talk about the case over the weekend or read or listen to any accounts of the trial.

Rittenhouse, 18, could face life in prison if a jury finds him guilty of first-degree intentional homicide. He is also charged with first-degree reckless homicide, first-degree recklessly endangering safety, attempted first-degree intentional homicide, possession of a dangerous weapon by a person under age 18 and use of a dangerous weapon.

Rittenhouse, who currently lives in Walworth County, Wisconsin, said he fatally shot two men and injured a third after being attacked on the streets of Kenosha in August 2020 and because he feared his gun would be taken and used on him. Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, and Anthony Huber, 26, were killed in the shootings, and Gaige Grosskreutz, 26, was injured.

The defense's final three witnesses included Kenosha Police Department Officer Brittni Bray; John Black, a defense video analyst; and Drew Hernandez, a professional commentator who covered the riots and protests in Kenosha.

Hernandez said he shot video of the protests in Kenosha. He described Rittenhouse as calm and said the teen tried to de-escalate tensions that night. Rosenbaum, he said, was acting erratically and physically aggressive and told an armed person to "shoot him."

The testimony came a day after Rittenhouse spent most of Wednesday on the stand, becoming emotional at times and also sharing details on how he got the AR-15 rifle he used in the shootings.

Rittenhouse, who was 17 years old at the time of fatal shootings, said his friend, Dominick Black, purchased the gun for him. He chose that gun because Black had one, he thought it "looked cool," and there weren't many other choices at the gun shop they went to near Ladysmith, Wisconsin.

Rittenhouse went with Black to that area in northern Wisconsin because Black's family had land there. The duo shot guns recreationally at targets set up on Black's family property, Rittenhouse said while testifying Wednesday during his trial.

Black agreed to store the gun at his stepdad's home in Kenosha, Wisconsin, until Rittenhouse was 18 years old. Rittenhouse then planned to take over legal ownership of the gun. In Wisconsin, it is unlawful for a person under the age of 18 years old to possess a gun.

While on the stand, Rittenhouse claimed he did not know it was illegal to possess the gun in Wisconsin and said he’d applied for a firearm owners identification card in Illinois but did not have one at the time of the shooting. In Illinois, he said, you can get a FOID at 16 years.

He said he was ultimately denied the FOID because of the criminal charges filed in the case.
Rittenhouse said he only used the AR-15 rifle once before he brought it with him "as protection" as he walked the streets of Kenosha on Aug. 25, 2020. He testified he went there to provide aid and medical help amid a third night of unrest following the police shooting of Jacob Blake.

Assistant District Attorney Thomas Binger questioned Rittenhouse at length Wednesday regarding his decision to bring the gun with him to Kenosha.

“This big long AR 15 got in the way when you were trying to help people?" Binger asked Rittenhouse.

“Yes, sometimes it did," Rittenhouse responded.

The AR-15 rifle was loaded with 30 rounds. Rittenhouse fired eight shots that night, four at Rosenbaum who died, two at an unidentified man who he claims "drop-kicked him" while he was on the ground, one at Huber, who also died, and one at Grosskreutz, who was hospitalized but survived.

Rosenbaum lunged at him and put his hands on his gun before Rittenhouse fired, he said. And Huber hit him with a skateboard and also tried to take his gun.

"I didn’t do anything wrong. I defended myself," Rittenhouse said.

You can follow along with closing arguments in the livestream below.

Also on Wednesday, Rittenhouse started sobbing and struggled to catch his breath as he described the seconds before he shot Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, four times with an AR-15 rifle.

"I wanted to help Mr. Rosenbaum, and if the crowd wouldn't have started to scream 'get him,' I would've done everything I could do to help him," Rittenhouse said.

During two instances Wednesday, Kenosha County Judge Bruce Schroeder asked the jury to leave the room and sternly admonished Binger on his lines of questioning. Defense attorney Mark Richards claimed Binger, "an experienced trial lawyer," was purposely throwing the case to "invoke a mistrial" because "the first trial is going badly."

Kyle Rittenhouse Takes Stand; Defense Asks For Mistrial

Schroeder said he'd take the defense's mistrial request Wednesday afternoon into advisement but decided to continue the testimony.