UPDATE:Mistrial Possible After Judge Berates Prosecutor
In their zeal to obtain a conviction, prosecutors in the Kyle Rittenhouse trial, already floundering badly, might have crossed a line that costs them the case.
Kenosha County Judge Bruce Schroeder said he would take under advisement a motion for a mistrial with prejudice to almost certainly be filed by Rittenhouse’s legal team, citing constitutional violations and misconduct by the prosecution, reported National Review.
If a mistrial is declared, Rittenhouse would be released and the state couldn’t re-try him on the same charges. National Review reported:
The motion for a mistrial was filed in response to Assistant District Attorney Thomas Binger’s cross examination of Rittenhouse, which he began by implying that the defendant’s silence ahead of the trial was potentially incriminating. Rittenhouse’s attorney objected to the line of questioning. After instructing the jury to leave the room, the judge sustained the defense’s objection and berated the prosecutor for implying Rittenhouse should be penalized for exercising his constitutional right to remain silent.
“This is a grave constitutional violation for you to talk about the defendant’s silence, you’re right on the border line, you may be over,” the judge said. “It better stop…This is not permitted.”
Binger was also berated after a lunch break, when the assistant district attorney tried to introduce evidence that the judge had already ruled inadmissible.
“When you say you’re acting in good faith, I don’t believe that,” Schroeder said.
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Kyle Rittenhouse testified at his murder trial Wednesday that the first man he shot and killed during a night of turbulent race riots in Kenosha was holding a chain at one point and twice threatened to kill him.
Apologizing to the court for his language, Rittenhouse said Joseph Rosenbaum was walking down the street with his chain and screamed, “If I catch any of you f***ing alone I’m going to f***ing kill you!”
And later, he testified, Rosenbaum said: “I’m going to cut your f***ing hearts out! Rittenhouse said Rosenbaum also called them “N-words.” But he said he didn’t want to repeat the word in court.
Rittenhouse, who is charged with killing two men during a protest against racial injustice in the summer of 2020, responded no when asked by his attorney whether he came to Kenosha looking for trouble.
The former police youth cadet was 17 when he went to Kenosha during the summer of 2020 with an AR-style semi-automatic rifle and a medical kit in what he has said was an effort to safeguard property from the unrest that broke out over the police wounding of a knife-wielding domestic abuser, Jacob Blake.
Rittenhouse, now 18, appeared composed as he gave answers in a matter-of-fact tone to questions from defense attorney Mark Richards.
Rittenhouse testified that he saw videos of violence in downtown Kenosha on Aug. 24, 2020, the day before the shootings, including a brick being thrown at a police officer’s head and cars burning in a Car Source dealership lot.
Rittenhouse said the Car Source owner “was happy we were there” and gave permission for the group to be there.
Rittenhouse’s decision to testify came despite several legal experts saying that an underwhelming prosecution case had made it less likely he would need to do so.
Prosecutors used 5½ days of testimony to try to portray Rittenhouse as the aggressor on the night of the shootings. But the prosecution’s witnesses often bolstered the young man’s claim of self-defense, including his fear that his weapon would be taken away and used against him.
The jurors were sent out of the room just before Rittenhouse began testifying while the judge explained his right to remain silent and the potential risks of testifying, Rittenhouse repeatedly answering that he understood.
As jurors reentered the room, they filed by Rittenhouse on the stand. As Rittenhouse began answering questions, some jurors appeared to take extensive notes on their clipboards.
Rittenhouse could get life in prison if convicted of the most serious charge against him.
Rittenhouse shot and killed 36-year-old Rosenbaum at close range. Then, as members of the crowd set upon him, he killed Anthony Huber, a 26-year-old protester seen on video clubbing Rittenhouse with a skateboard.
Rittenhouse then wounded Gaige Grosskreutz, a 27-year-old protester who admitted pointing his own gun at Rittenhouse just before he was shot.
Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press
