Kyle Rittenhouse insists he acted in self-defense when he shot three people, killing two, during a violent night of civil unrest in Kenosha last year.
“I didn’t do anything wrong,” he testified last week.
But whether a jury agrees with that statement and acquits the former Antioch resident of several serious crimes, including homicide, may hinge on a complex list of instructions the judge will give the panel as a road map for its deliberations.
Jurors also will hear lawyers’ lengthy closing arguments Monday in a polarizing case that has sparked fierce debate about gun rights and racial inequalities. In anticipation of the upcoming verdict, Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers activated 500 National Guard members to aid Kenosha authorities if needed. Several law enforcement agencies, including in Chicago, are on heightened alert.
The Kenosha County jury had a three-day weekend after hearing from about 30 witnesses during the two-week trial. On Friday, outside the panel’s presence, lawyers argued over final jury instructions regarding five felonies and one misdemeanor gun charge.
In a potential win for the prosecution, Judge Bruce Schroeder said on Friday he was inclined to allow jurors to consider less serious offenses for some of the six charges. The jury could consider a lesser-included charge only if the panel acquits the defendant of the more serious corresponding charge.
Judge Bruce Schroeder, front, comes down from the bench and sits closer to a television screen to watch a video as Kyle Rittenhouse, right, and his attorney Natalie Wisco stand behind him during proceedings at the Kenosha County Courthouse on Nov. 12, 2021, in Kenosha. (Pool / Getty Images)
The court said it would make the finalized instructions public over the weekend but had not by early Sunday evening.
Rittenhouse, then 17, volunteered to patrol downtown Kenosha amid turmoil surrounding the shooting of Jacob Blake, a Black man, who was left partially paralyzed after being shot by a white police officer during a domestic disturbance call days earlier. State and federal prosecutors later declined to charge the officer with any wrongdoing.
Carrying an AR-15-style rifle that police say a friend illegally purchased for him, Rittenhouse fatally shot Joseph Rosenbaum and Anthony Huber and injured Gaige Grosskreutz during the third night of the city’s unrest. Rittenhouse is charged with reckless homicide, intentional homicide and attempted intentional homicide related to his actions toward the men, respectively.
Now 18, Rittenhouse is also charged with the reckless endangerment of professional videographer Richard McGinniss, who though not struck testified he felt he was in danger when standing in the line of fire as Rittenhouse shot Rosenbaum. McGinniss said he was a few feet behind Rosenbaum when he heard him shout an expletive at Rittenhouse and lunge for his gun.
As in other states, Wisconsin allows people to use guns to defend themselves against serious threats, but there are exceptions to that right, including the reasonableness of Rittenhouse’s belief that his actions were necessary to prevent his death or serious injury. The jury must answer that question from the defendant’s viewpoint at the time of the alleged offenses.
The judge also tentatively approved a provocation instruction, meaning jurors would be asked to determine whether Rittenhouse provoked the confrontation with Rosenbaum, an unarmed man who chased Rittenhouse before the shooting. If the panel finds Rittenhouse was the provoker, legal experts say, his self-defense claim could be negated.
“If the defendant provoked this interaction that resulted in people getting shot, then it’s very hard to argue that he was acting in self-defense and that he had no ill intent from the get-go,” said Jeffrey Cramer, a former federal prosecutor. “You can either be acting in self-defense or you can provoke a situation. It’s very difficult to do both.”
Undoubtedly, the extensive video footage from that night is the backbone of the case for both sides. Prosecutors argue evidence from drone video shows Rittenhouse pointing his weapon at a man and woman just before Rosenbaum ran after him.
Kyle Rittenhouse, center, stands with his attorneys, from left, Mark Richards, Corey Chirafisi and Natalie Wisco, before viewing video during proceedings at the Kenosha County Courthouse on Nov. 12, 2021. (Pool / Getty Images)
Rittenhouse had denied this, and his attorneys argued that the drone video and blown-up still shot are unclear. But Schroeder told prosecutors they could try to make their case about the drone evidence’s strength.
“It’s the jury’s case and I think they should make the critical decisions,” the judge said Friday.
The defense also objected to most of the prosecution’s requests for the lesser charges to be included in the instructions — a move that could invite the jury to reach compromise verdicts on charges in which they cannot unanimously agree.
Schroeder indicated he was inclined to give the jury the additional instructions involving Huber, McGinniss and Grosskreutz, which meant members would be given the option of finding Rittenhouse guilty of something less serious than the original charge.
In response to a reporter’s question, Assistant District Attorney James Kraus said the prosecution’s decision to seek several lesser charges is standard and not an admission of a weak case.
Many legal experts have opined as the trial winded down that Rittenhouse made a strong case for self-defense, and the jury might find his well-prepared testimony convincing. Defense attorney Steven Greenberg said he thought the defense “was so far ahead” that he was surprised Rittenhouse took the stand.
“Usually calling a defendant is a Hail Mary,” Greenberg said. “But he did fine. While he clearly had a slant on his message, he delivered it in a sincere manner, and helped to convey what he was thinking at the time in a way that made you feel his fear, regardless of his vigilantism.”
During several hours of testimony, Rittenhouse told jurors he acted in self-defense.
“I didn’t intend to kill them,” he insisted. “I did what I had to do to stop them from attacking me.”
Lawyers’ closing arguments Monday are expected to last up to five hours, after which the judge will instruct jurors on the law. The jury instructions are so lengthy, the judge has said it will take at least 45 minutes to read them all out loud.
The predominantly white jury consists of 10 women and eight men from Kenosha County, a political swing county in the southeastern part of Wisconsin. Though only 12 members will deliberate on a verdict, the panel includes a special education teacher, a pharmacist, several gun owners and a woman who described her fears during the chaotic protests.
cmgutowski@chicagotribune.com
sstclair@chicagotribune.com
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