Kyle Rittenhouse trial: Judge considers mistrial bid in Kenosha shooting case amid iPad video confusion
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The judge presiding over Kyle Rittenhouse’s homicide trial said he will consider a defence motion for a mistrial after the defendant took the stand on Wednesday.
Mr Rittenhouse’s attorneys are seeking a mistrial with prejudice due to what they called “prosecutorial misconduct”. The defence accused prosecutors of violating Mr Rittenhouse’s rights by mentioning his silence in the wake of the 25 August 2020 shootings and by referencing a video that was previously deemed inadmissible.
If the motion is granted, Mr Rittenhouse cannot be tried again for the same crimes.
The 18-year-old is facing five charges including homicide and minor in possession of a weapon for shooting dead Joseph Rosenbaum and Anthony Huber and injuring Gauge Grosskreutz during protests in Kenosha, Wisconsin. He could be sentenced to a maximum of life in prison if convicted.
Earlier in Wednesday’s hearing, Mr Rittenhouse walked through the night of the shootings and broke down in tears as he described fearing for his life when confronted by protesters. “I didn’t do anything wrong. I defended myself,” he said.
Under cross-examination, Mr Rittenhouse acknowledged that it was illegal for him to carry AR-15 rifle he used in the shootings and said he had a friend purchase it for him because: “I thought it looked cool.”
Prosecutor Thomas Binger sought to highlight Mr Rittenhouse’s lack of experience with AR-15s but questioning what he knows about the “full metal jacket” rounds used in the shooting.
Tensions boiled over just before lunch when Judge Bruce Schroeder admonished the prosecution for referencing a video that had been excluded from evidence at a pretrial hearing.
Later in the day, the prosecution took another hit when the defence sought to exclude another video on the grounds that it was filmed on an iPad with the “pinch to zoom” feature. Judge Schroeder sided with the defence and said the prosecution should bring in an expert to prove that the footage is reliable.
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Judge will take mistrial motion 'under advisement’
Judge Schroeder said he would take the defence motion for a mistrial under advisement after admonishing the prosecution once again for bringing up the video of Mr Rittenhouse saying he wanted to shoot shoplifters on 10 August 2020.
“When you say you were acting in good faith, I don’t believe you,” the judge told prosecutors.
Rittenhouse returns to the stand to resume cross-examination
Mr Rittenhouse was called back to the witness stand to resume cross-examination after Judge Schroeder said he would consider the mistrial motion.
Mr Binger, the prosecutor, asked a string of questions to clarify the course of events on 25 August 2020 and poke holes in Mr Rittenhouse’s account.
When Judge Schroeder interjected to ask what Mr Binger was getting at, the prosecutor said he was looking to establish Mr Rittenhouse’s frame of mind before the shootings.
Mr Binger’s questions sought to bolster the prosecution’s larger narrative that Mr Rittenhouse was actively looking for “friction” that night.
Mr Rittenhouse said he did not expect to be attacked but brought a gun with him just in case things turned south.
Judge ringtone is Lee Greenwood’s ‘God Bless the U.S.A’ - Trump’s rally theme song
Shortly after lunch the trial was interrupted by Judge Schroeder’s God Bless The U.S.A. ringtone.
Twitter users were quick to note that the patriotic anthem by Lee Greenwood was frequently used at former President Donald Trump’s campaign rallies.
Gustaf Kilander reports:
Judge’s phone goes off in Rittenhouse trial - and the ringtone is Trump’s theme tune
The ringtone of Judge Bruce Schroeder was revealed to be God Bless The USA by Lee Greenwood when it rang as the judge was presiding over the trial of Kyle Rittenhouse in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
Rittenhouse asked to explain why he didn’t go home earlier
Mr Rittenhouse’s confidence appeared to waiver when asked why he didn’t go home after police moved protesters away from the 59th Street Car Source location he said he’d been asked to protect.
Mr Binger pushed the defendant to acknowledge that prior to the shootings, the scene outside the business had largely cleared out. “Why didn’t you go home at that point?” he asked.
Mr Rittenhouse said he stayed out to provide medical aid to anyone who needed it, before Mr Binger reminded that no one in the vicinity appeared to be hurt.
The defendant said he then received a call from his friend Dominick Black about a fire at another nearby Car Source location and ran over to help put it out. Mr Binger played video of Mr Rittenhouse running with a fire extinguisher and questioned why he felt the need to bring his rifle with him to the blaze.
Mr Rittenhouse said he didn’t take the rifle off because “I was alone ... No one else was there to protect me.”
Defence seeks to exclude video recorded by an iPad
Defence attorney Mark Richards sought to exclude a video of Mr Rittenhouse shooting Mr Rosenbaum because he said it might be distorted as it was filmed on an iPad.
Mr Richards took issue with Apple’s “pinch to zoom” feature, by which he said the camera “creates what it thinks is there” by adding pixels with “artificial intelligence”.
Mr Binger countered that the feature merely enhances an image that is already there in the same way as a magnifying glass. He suggested that the defence bring in a witness to testify about how the image could be distorted.
But Judge Schroeder disagreed, saying that it is the prosecution’s responsibility to show that its exhibit is reliable.
Jury sees video of Rittenhouse shooting Rosenbaum
After a short recess, Mr Rittenhouse retook the stand as the prosecution showed its video of the fatal shooting of Mr Rosenbaum. It was unclear if prosecutors would be allowed to zoom in on the video after the defence’s objection.
Mr Rittenhouse testified that he thought Mr Rosenbaum would take his rifle from him and “would use it to kill me”.
“Mr Rosenbaum was chasing me, he said he was going to kill me, I was alone,” Mr Rittenhouse said. “I pointed my gun at him and he didn’t stop.”
Mr Binger asked: “You wanted him to get the message from you that if he keeps coming, you’re going to kill him?”
“I didn’t want to kill him,” Mr Rittenhouse replied, evading the question.
The defence objected to Mr Binger’s line of questioning as argumentative and the judge agreed.
Mr Binger then asked why Mr Rittenhouse continued shooting Mr Rosenbaum after his first shot knocked him down.
“I continued to shoot until he was no longer a threat to me,” Mr Rittenhouse said.
His voice shaking, the defendant said he would’ve provided aid to Mr Rosenbaum were it not for “the mob” closing in on him.
Rittenhouse called friend instead of 911 after shooting
Mr Binger challenged Mr Rittenhouse’s claim that he didn’t provide aid to Mr Rosenbaum because of the angry crowd, noting that the video didn’t show anyone coming after him until he began to run away.
He also noted that before running away Mr Rittenhouse made a phone call to his friend Dominick Black instead of calling 911.
“I called the first number in my phone,” Mr Rittenhouse said.
Mr Binger then highlighted a section of the video where Mr Rittenhouse told a passerby that he shot Mr Rosenbaum because he was armed.
On the stand, Mr Rittenhouse said he was “confused” and acknowledged Mr Rosenbaum was not armed.
Cross-examination eyes crucial moments during shooting of Anthony Huber and Gauge Grosskreutz
Prosecutor Thomas Binger has been hammering Kyle Rittenhouse for minutes during cross-examination, questioning Mr Rittenhouse about his exact intentions in the moments that led up to the shootings of Anthony Huber and Gauge Grosskreutz.
“Why are you shooting somebody at close range with an AR-15 if you didn’t want to kill him?” the prosecutor asked the 18-year-old, who was visibly emotional on the stand. “Did you even care?” he added.
“I didn’t want to have to kill anybody that night,” Mr Rittenhouse said multiple times during his testimony, arguing a mob was closing in on him after he fatally shot Joseph Rosenbaum.
Prosecution says self-proclaimed ‘medic’ Kyle Rittenhouse ignored wounds of men he shot
On 25 August 2020, Kyle Rittenhouse travelled through the streets of Kenosha, Wisconsin, with first aid supplies, offering his help as a street medic as protests raged across the city.
Now, during his trial more than a year later, prosecutor Thomas Binger called attention to that fact, noting that Mr Rittenhouse didn’t offer any first aid to the three men he shot that night, one of whom was captured on video yelling, “I need a medic!”
“You didn’t do anything to help him, did you?” Mr Binger asked, adding, “You never once offered to help anybody you shot.”
Mr Rittenhouse responded, “I kept walking to get to the police line.”