Kyle Rittenhouse's ex-lawyer who predicted teen would be found not guilty a year ago says prosecution 'knew they would lose and were just making a political point'

Kyle Rittenhouse's former lawyer, John Pierce, on Tuesday told Fox News he felt that the case was without merit and the prosecution knew they would lose

Pierce said that he felt the case was being pursued to make a political point and he expected Rittenhouse to be acquitted

A year ago, while representing Rittenhouse - which he did from shortly after the August 25 shooting until December 2020 - he predicted the gun charge would be dismissed

Pierce insisted Rittenhouse was carrying the weapon legally in Wisconsin

Published: 03:04 GMT, 17 November 2021 | Updated: 07:42 GMT, 17 November 2021

An attorney who initially represented Kyle Rittenhouse before they acrimoniously parted ways said on Tuesday that the teenager was always going to be acquitted, describing the case as politically-motivated 'malicious prosecution'.

John Pierce, a high-profile former tank platoon commander who has made a name for himself representing multiple pro-Trump defendants - including 17 of the Capitol rioters - said that the trial was a sham.

Pierce, 49, told Fox News on Tuesday: 'This case should have never been brought.

'In my view, this is blatant prosecutorial misconduct. It's malicious prosecution.'

Pierce, who runs how own Los Angeles-based firm, was hired by Rittenhouse shortly after the August 25, 2020 shooting.

John Pierce is pictured with Kyle Rittenhouse, his mother Wendy and sister Faith. Pierce represented Rittenhouse from August 2020 for just over three months

Kyle Rittenhouse, now 18, is seen in the courtroom during his two-week trial

Thomas Binger, prosecuting, shocked many in the court by brandishing Rittenhouse's gun during closing arguments on Friday

On August 30, 2020, Pierce told Breitbart that the case was without merit.

'We're going to trial,' said Pierce.

'We're going to win this case. If I'm the prosecutor, I drop these charges immediately.

'I think that this is a rush of judgment, and if I was the prosecutor, I would be terrified to take this case to trial.

'I do not believe that there's a jury in this country that's going to look at these facts and is going to find him guilty for murder.'

Pierce said at the time that Rittenhouse's case was 'absolute 100 percent self-defense, and we're going to prove it if we have to.'

He added: 'It was legal for him to possess that weapon in Wisconsin.'

Six of the 18 jurors who have heard the case were selected as alternates Tuesday morning and must remain in the courthouse while the remaining 12 deliberate in case they should be re-called

Defense attorney Mark Richards is pictured on Monday, during closing arguments

On Tuesday, Pierce said that he was confident his prediction over a year ago would stand.

'In a radio interview that I did on Breitbart just a few days after the shootings, I said that that charge should not have been brought, and that it was going to go away at some point,' he said.

On Monday, Judge Bruce Schroeder dismissed the sixth charge, of unlawful possession of a firearm, as Pierce predicted.

'He was legally entitled to have that firearm with him,' he said.

Judge Bruce Schroeder on Monday ruled that it was legal for Rittenhouse to carry the weapon. He threw out the charge, saying the wording of the law is ambiguous and confusing for even the most seasoned professionals like him, let alone for ordinary citizens

'And it's just clear as day from the evidence, most powerfully from the hundreds of angles of video evidence, that it was absolute perfect self-defense.'

Pierce and Rittenhouse parted ways in December 2020, after questions were raised about his financial arrangements.

Wendy Rittenhouse, Kyle's mother, told The New Yorker she had concerns about the #FightBack Foundation, the group founded by Pierce.

'Kyle was John's ticket out of debt,' Wendy said of Pierce.

Wendy said she asked Pierce to return $40,000 in donated living expenses that she believed belonged to the family, a request she told the New Yorker he had refused.

'He said we owed him millions - he 'freed Kyle,'' she told the outlet.

The Rittenhouse family said they grew uncomfortable with Pierce, telling the New Yorker that he drank excessively in front of Wendy's kids, called Kyle's sister a 'raging liberal,' and charged the family for time spent shopping for a shirt to wear on Tucker Carlson's show.

Pierce is seen on Tucker Carlson's show in the fall of 2020, when he was representing Rittenhouse

In March, Wendy told the Law & Crime podcast: 'They used Kyle to gain money, gain Twitter followers.

'I felt now they didn't care about Kyle.'

Pierce now runs a private law firm and has founded the National Constitutional Law Union, or NCLU — which he describes as 'the ACLU but for the rest of us.'

Protesters made their feelings known on Tuesday outside the courthouse in Kenosha, Wisconsin

He has vehemently denied misappropriating any funds donated to Rittenhouse's cause.

Pierce on Tuesday said he was confident Rittenhouse would be acquitted, despite the fact that he 'was defamed by pretty much every media outlet and lots of politicians and celebrities as being mass murderer and a white supremacist, which is ridiculous.'

Pierce added: 'The justice system, in many instances, is being weaponized for political purposes.

'I think that's one of the impacts that folks like George Soros have had in attempting to and being successful in installing many prosecutors throughout the country.'

Pierce praised Judge Schroeder, saying that he had impressed him with his no-nonsense manner.

Schroeder, 75, has frequently berated the prosecution and prevented them from bringing before the court detail they deemed relevant, such as Rittenhouse saying days before the shooting that he wanted to fire his gun at people.

'This judge is just unbelievably good,' Pierce said.

'He's just no bulls***, and he just goes by the law and, he is not going to be swayed one iota by anything happening outside the courtroom.'

On Tuesday the 12-person jury spent their first day deliberating the five charges.

If Rittenhouse is convicted, he faces the rest of his life behind bars. Many believe he will be acquitted, and the prosecution have even tried to lobby for watered-down convictions, in what is seen as a desperate bid to secure any type of conviction.

Wendy Rittenhouse this week also praised the judge, and said she was hopeful her son would be freed.

What charges does Kyle Rittenhouse face?

Kyle Rittenhouse shot three men, killing two of them and wounding the third, during a protest against police brutality in Kenosha, Wisconsin, last year. Rittenhouse has argued that he fired in self-defense after the men attacked him.

Here's a look at the charges that prosecutors carried into court, as well as lesser charges that the judge could put before the jury in final instructions:

COUNT 1: FIRST-DEGREE RECKLESS HOMICIDE, USE OF A DANGEROUS WEAPON

This felony charge is connected to the death of Joseph Rosenbaum, the first man Rittenhouse shot. Bystander video shows Rosenbaum chasing Rittenhouse through a parking lot and throwing a plastic bag at him. Rittenhouse flees behind a car and Rosenbaum follows. Video introduced at trial showed Rittenhouse wheeling around and firing as Rosenbaum chased him. Richie McGinniss, a reporter who was trailing Rittenhouse, testified that Rosenbaum lunged for Rittenhouse's gun.

Reckless homicide differs from intentional homicide in that prosecutors aren't alleging Rittenhouse intended to murder Rosenbaum. Instead, they're alleging Rittenhouse caused Rosenbaum's death in circumstances showing an utter disregard for human life.

Former Waukesha County District Attorney Paul Bucher said prosecutors' decision to charge reckless instead of intentional homicide shows they don't know what happened between Rittenhouse and Rosenbaum and what might have been going through Rittenhouse's mind when he pulled the trigger.

The charge is punishable by up to 60 years in prison. The dangerous weapon modifier carries an additional five years.

Prosecutors asked Judge Bruce Schroeder to let the jury also consider a lesser charge, second-degree reckless homicide, that does not require a finding that Rittenhouse acted with utter disregard for human life. It's punishable by up to 25 years in prison. But after Rittenhouse's attorneys objected, Schroeder said he did not plan to give that instruction. He said he expected that a guilty verdict on that count would be overturned because the defense objected to adding it.

COUNT 2: FIRST-DEGREE RECKLESSLY ENDANGERING SAFETY, USE OF A DANGEROUS WEAPON

This felony charge is connected to the Rosenbaum shooting. McGinniss told investigators he was in the line of fire when Rittenhouse shot Rosenbaum. The charge is punishable by 12 1/2 years in prison. The weapons modifier carries an additional five years.

Prosecutors asked Schroeder to let the jury consider a second-degree version of this charge. The difference is that the second-degree version doesn't require a finding that Rittenhouse acted with utter disregard for human life. Schroeder said he was inclined to allow that instruction, though he didn't make a final ruling. The charge is punishable by up to 10 years in prison.

COUNT 3: FIRST-DEGREE RECKLESSLY ENDANGERING SAFETY, USE OF A DANGEROUS WEAPON

Video shows an unknown man leaping at Rittenhouse and trying to kick him seconds before Anthony Huber moves his skateboard toward him. Rittenhouse appears to fire two rounds at the man but apparently misses as the man runs away.

This charge is a felony punishable by 12 1/2 years in prison. The weapons modifier again would add up to five more years.

Schroeder said he would decline prosecutors' request that jurors be allowed to consider this charge in the second degree.

COUNT 4: FIRST-DEGREE INTENTIONAL HOMICIDE, USE OF A DANGEROUS WEAPON

This charge is connected to Huber's death. Video shows Rittenhouse running down the street after shooting Rosenbaum when he falls to the street. Huber leaps at him and swings a skateboard at his head and neck and tries to grab Rittenhouse's gun before Rittenhouse fires. The criminal complaint alleges Rittenhouse aimed the weapon at Huber.

Intentional homicide means just that - a person killed someone and meant to do it. Bucher said that if Rittenhouse pointed the gun at Huber and pulled the trigger that would amount to intentional homicide. However, self-defense would trump the charge.

'Why I intended to kill this individual makes the difference,' Bucher said.

The count carries a mandatory life sentence. The weapons modifier would add up to five years.

Prosecutors asked Schroeder to give the jury the option of second-degree intentional homicide, first-degree reckless homicide and second-degree reckless homicide in Huber's death. The defense objected only to the second-degree reckless homicide charge, and Schroeder said he 'embraced' that argument.

Second-degree intentional homicide is a fallback charge when a defendant believed he was in imminent danger of death or great bodily harm and that it was necessary to use force - but either belief was unreasonable. It's punishable by up to 60 years in prison.

The first-degree reckless homicide charge sought in Huber's death matches an original charge in Rosenbaum's death - it would require jurors to decide that Rittenhouse caused Huber's death with an utter disregard for human life - and is punishable by up to 60 years in prison.

COUNT 5: ATTEMPTED FIRST-DEGREE INTENTIONAL HOMICIDE, USE OF A DANGEROUS WEAPON

This is the charge for Rittenhouse shooting Gaige Grosskreutz in the arm seconds after he shot Huber, and as Grosskreutz came toward him holding a pistol. Grosskreutz survived. Video shows Rittenhouse pointing his gun at Grosskreutz and firing a single round.

The charge carries a maximum sentence of 60 years. The weapons modifier would add up to five more years.

Prosecutors asked that the jury be allowed to consider lesser counts in the Grosskreutz shooting: second-degree attempted intentional homicide, first-degree reckless endangerment and second-degree reckless endangerment. Defense attorneys didn't oppose the first, but did oppose adding the reckless endangerment counts. Schroeder didn't rule but said he was inclined to side with prosecutors.

The possible punishment for attempted second-degree intentional homicide is 30 years.

DISMISSED - COUNT 6: POSSESSION OF A DANGEROUS WEAPON BY A PERSON UNDER 18

Rittenhouse was armed with an AR-style semi-automatic rifle. He was 17 years old on the night of the shootings. Wisconsin law prohibits minors from possessing firearms except for hunting. It was not clear on Friday what Schroeder intends to tell jurors about that charge.

The charge is a misdemeanor punishable by up to nine months behind bars.

Judge Bruce Schroeder dismissed count 6 from Rittenhouse's rap sheet Monday morning.

COUNT 7: FAILURE TO COMPLY WITH AN EMERGENCY ORDER FROM STATE OR LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Rittenhouse was charged with being out on the streets after an 8 p.m. curfew imposed by the city, a minor offense that carries a fine of up to $200. Judge Bruce Schroeder dismissed the charge during the second week of trial after the defense argued that prosecutors hadn't offered enough evidence to prove it

Kyle Rittenhouse's ex-lawyer says prosecution 'knew they would lose'

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