Rittenhouse murder case thrown into jeopardy by mistrial bid

By MICHAEL TARM, SCOTT BAUER and KATHLEEN FOODY

KENOSHA, Wis. (AP) — The execution lawsuit against Kyle Rittenhouse was thrown into jeopardy Wednesday erstwhile his lawyers asked for a mistrial implicit what appeared to beryllium out-of-bounds questions asked of Rittenhouse by the main prosecutor. The justice did not instantly regularisation connected the request.

The startling crook came aft Rittenhouse, successful a high-stakes gamble, took the basal and testified that helium was nether onslaught erstwhile helium changeable 3 men, 2 fatally, during a nighttime of turbulent protests successful Kenosha successful the summertime of 2020.

“I didn’t bash thing wrong. I defended myself,” the 18-year-old said.

During cross-examination, authoritative Thomas Binger asked Rittenhouse astir whether it was due to usage deadly unit to support property. The authoritative besides posed questions astir Rittenhouse’s soundlessness aft his arrest.

At that, the assemblage was ushered retired of the room, and Circuit Judge Bruce Schroeder loudly and angrily accused Binger of pursuing an improper enactment of questioning and trying to present grounds that the justice earlier said helium was inclined to prohibit.

Rittenhouse lawyer Corey Chirafasi each but suggested prosecutors mightiness beryllium deliberately trying to origin a mistrial due to the fact that this 1 is “going badly” for the prosecution and it wants a do-over. The defence asked for a mistrial with prejudice, meaning that if 1 is granted, Rittenhouse cannot beryllium retried successful the shootings.

When Binger said helium had been acting successful bully faith, the justice replied: “I don’t judge that.”

Rittenhouse is connected proceedings for the shootings helium committed during sometimes-violent protests that erupted successful Kenosha implicit the wounding of a Black antheral by a achromatic Kenosha constabulary officer. He could get beingness successful situation if convicted of the astir superior charges against him.

Rittenhouse, who was 17 astatine the time, went to Kenosha with an AR-style semi-automatic limb and a medic container successful what the erstwhile constabulary younker cadet said was an effort to support spot aft rioters had acceptable fires and ransacked businesses connected erstwhile nights.

Rittenhouse testified that helium fatally changeable Joseph Rosenbaum aft Rosenbaum chased him and enactment his manus connected the tube of Rittenhouse’s rifle. He said helium past changeable and killed Anthony Huber aft Huber struck him successful the cervix with his skateboard and grabbed his gun.

When a 3rd man, Gaige Grosskreutz, “lunges astatine maine with his pistol pointed straight astatine my head,” Rittenhouse changeable him, too, wounding him.

“I didn’t mean to termination them. I intended to halt the radical who were attacking me,” Rittenhouse said.

During his crook arsenic a witness, Rittenhouse sobbed truthful hard astatine 1 constituent that the justice declared a break. But otherwise, helium was composed connected the stand, adjacent arsenic helium was being cross-examined aggressively.

The lawsuit against Rittenhouse has divided Americans implicit whether helium was a patriot taking a basal against lawlessness oregon a vigilante. Prosecutors person portrayed him arsenic the instigator that night, portion the defence has said helium feared for his life, acrophobic that his weapon was going to beryllium taken distant and utilized against him.

Rittenhouse’s determination to attest carried definite hazard — including the anticipation of fierce cross-examination from prosecutors — and came contempt doubts among immoderate ineligible experts astir the worth of putting him connected the stand, fixed the evident weaknesses successful the state’s case.

During the prosecution’s broadside of the case, immoderate of its ain witnesses bolstered the young man’s assertion of self-defense.

As helium began crying connected the basal and appeared incapable to speak, his mother, Wendy Rittenhouse, connected a seat crossed the courtroom, sobbed loudly. Someone adjacent to her enactment an limb astir her. After the justice called a recess, jurors walked by Rittenhouse and looked connected arsenic helium continued to cry.

Much of the grounds Wednesday was centered connected the archetypal shooting of the night, since it was Rosenbaum’s decease that acceptable successful question that bloodshed that followed.

Rittenhouse said helium was walking toward a car dealer’s batch with a occurrence extinguisher to enactment retired a blaze erstwhile helium heard idiosyncratic scream, “Burn successful hell!” He said helium responded by saying, “Friendly, friendly, friendly!”

He said Rosenbaum was moving astatine him from 1 broadside and different protester with a weapon was successful beforehand of him, “and I was cornered.” He said that was erstwhile helium began to run. He said different protester, Joshua Ziminski, told Rosenbaum, “Get him and termination him.”

Rittenhouse said helium heard a gunshot straight down him, and arsenic helium turned around, Rosenbaum was coming astatine him with his arms retired successful front. “I retrieve his manus connected the tube of my gun,” Rittenhouse said.

“I sprout him,” the suspect recounted. He besides said helium thought the entity Rosenbaum threw during the pursuit — a integrative infirmary container — was a concatenation helium had seen Rosenbaum carrying earlier.

Rittenhouse said helium intended to assistance the wounded antheral but was successful daze arsenic idiosyncratic other attended to him. Rittenhouse said helium thought the “safest option” was to crook himself successful to constabulary who were nearby.

Asked by his lawyer wherefore helium didn’t support moving distant from Rosenbaum, Rittenhouse said: “There was nary abstraction for maine to proceed to tally to.”

Rittenhouse said that earlier that night, Rosenbaum was holding a concatenation and had doubly threatened to termination him. Apologizing to the tribunal for his language, Rittenhouse quoted Rosenbaum arsenic saying: “I’m going to chopped your (expletive) hearts out!”

As helium archetypal took the stand, Rittenhouse was asked by his lawyer whether helium came to Kenosha looking for trouble, and helium responded no.

He testified that helium saw videos of unit successful downtown Kenosha connected the time earlier the shootings, including a ceramic being thrown astatine a constabulary officer’s caput and cars burning successful a Car Source dealership lot. Rittenhouse said the Car Source proprietor “was blessed we were there” that night.

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This communicative has been corrected to amusement that it was the defence attorney, not the judge, who suggested the authoritative was trying to origin a mistrial.

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Bauer reported from Madison, Wisconsin; Foody from Chicago. Associated Press writer Tammy Webber contributed from Fenton, Michigan.

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Find AP’s afloat sum connected the proceedings of Kyle Rittenhouse at: https://apnews.com/hub/kyle-rittenhouse