Kyle Rittenhouse trial live updates: Prosecutor begins closing arguments
We're into the 11th day of the trial of Kyle Rittenhouse, the Illinois teenager charged with killing two people and wounding a third during violent protests in Kenosha last year after the police shooting of Jacob Blake.
Rittenhouse, 18, is charged with counts of intentional, reckless and attempted homicide and reckless endangerment. A misdemeanor charge of possessing a firearm as a minor was dismissed Monday, and a curfew violation charge was dismissed last week.
Check below for updates as Journal Sentinel reporters and photographers cover the trial. You can also read about what happened on day one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine and 10 of the trial.
Prosecutor begins closing arguments
Before the jury took a lunch break Monday at noon, Assistant District Attorney Thomas Binger began his closing argument with a focus on Rittenhouse’s motivations and the shooting of Joseph Rosenbaum.
Binger argued that Rittenhouse was carrying a gun he shouldn’t have had, was “pretending” to guard an empty business he had no connection to, and was lying about being an EMT.
Rittenhouse was not like the heroes who often make the news for stopping active shooters, Binger argued.
“Consider for example whether or not it’s honorable to provoke and shoot unarmed people. Consider whether it makes someone a hero when they lie about being an EMT,” Binger told the jury.
“I think all of us are familiar with someone who does the sorts of things that the defendant has done. They enjoy the thrill of going around and telling people what to do without the courage or the honor to back it up, and without the legal authority to do so,” he said.
Binger also argued that Rittenhouse provoked Rosenbaum by pointing a gun at him, invalidating the self-defense argument.
Binger showed three videos of the Rosenbaum shooting that the jury has seen several times already. One, a drone video acquired after the start of the trial, has proved a major element of the prosecution’s case.
In the closing argument, Binger argued that the drone video showed Rittenhouse setting down his fire extinguisher and pointing his gun, who would then chase him.
This was the provocation that sparked the confrontation between Rosenbaum and Rittenhouse, Binger said.
“When the defendant provokes the incident, he loses the right to self-defense. You cannot claim self-defense against a danger you create,” Binger said. “If you're the one who’s threatening others, you lose the right to claim self-defense.”
Rittenhouse, who ran across a car lot and in between some parked cars after pointing the gun, controlled where he ran in the lot, Binger argued. He did not have to run toward the parked cars and could have run away in another direction, Binger said.
“When the defendant provokes the situation, he has to exhaust all reasonable means to avoid killing someone.”
Binger also argued that Rosenbaum was not reaching for Rittenhouse’s gun — as Rittenhouse testified he believed — and was instead falling face-forward inadvertently because Rittenhouse already shot him in the pelvis.
Binger's continued closing argument was set to continue after the lunch break.
— Sophie Carson
Prosecutors, defense hash out jury instructions
By 11 a.m. Monday, lawyers for the state and defense in the Kyle Rittenhouse trial were still debating the instructions that should be sent to the jury.
Judge Bruce Schroeder was reading the lengthy instructions Monday morning when he stopped himself and excused the jury to discuss an issue with prosecutors and the defense.
At issue was whether or not jurors should be instructed to consider lesser charges if they find that Rittenhouse is not guilty of first-degree intentional homicide.
Jurors have the option of convicting Rittenhouse of first-degree intentional homicide or first-degree reckless homicide, a lesser charge.
Assistant District Attorney Thomas Binger argued the jurors should be instructed to consider the lesser charge even if they find Rittenhouse not guilty of the greater charge because of self-defense. He said that was language both parties and Schroeder had agreed to earlier.
Binger said he was “leery” of the instructions deviating from what was agreed upon. But Schroeder argued the instructions were already too complicated.
He ruled that jurors should not consider the lesser charge if they find Rittenhouse acted in self-defense.
— Elliot Hughes
Judge dismisses weapon misdemeanor charge
Judge Bruce Schroeder on Monday morning dismissed the misdemeanor charge of possession of a dangerous weapon by a person under 18 against Kyle Rittenhouse.
Of the six criminal charges filed against Rittenhouse after he shot three people and killed two last year, the misdemeanor was considered the easiest chance for prosecutors to earn a conviction.
Rittenhouse’s defense team had long battled to get the charge dismissed, arguing that the dimensions of Rittenhouse’s rifle fell within an exception in the law for 16- and 17-year-olds.
Schroeder was about to begin reading instructions to the jury shortly before 10 a.m. Monday.
— Elliot Hughes
Week three begins, closing arguments to start
Week 3 of the Kyle Rittenhouse trial began Monday morning with lawyers on both sides presenting arguments for jury instructions.
Following that, both the prosecution and defense will be given two and a half hours each to make closing arguments. The case will then go to the jury.
Media inside the Kenosha County Courthouse reported Judge Bruce Schroeder’s courtroom was packed Monday, with a line of people waiting in line to get a seat.
— Elliot Hughes
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Kyle Rittenhouse trial live updates: Prosecutor begins closing arguments
