Posted on 11/02/2021 1:26:31 PM PDT by RandFan
Kyle Rittenhouse, an Illinois resident, arrived in Kenosha, Wis., in August 2020 as a teenager with innocent motives, his lawyer told jurors in an opening statement.
Mr. Rittenhouse had ties to the community, family and friends who lived in Kenosha, a job as a lifeguard at the RecPlex in Pleasant Prairie, just outside town. When he came downtown on the third day of protests after the police shooting of Jacob Blake, Mr. Rittenhouse was there to clean graffiti and help protect the city from more destruction, his lawyer said.
And when Mr. Rittenhouse walked Sheridan Road in Kenosha with his rifle in the late-evening hours of Aug. 25, 2020, he was pursued by Joseph Rosenbaum, the first man he shot, and a series of other attackers who were determined to injure him, take his firearm and possibly kill him, said the lawyer, Mark Richards.
“Kyle Rittenhouse protected himself,” Mr. Richards said. “Protected his firearm so it couldn’t be taken and used against him or other people who Mr. Rosenbaum had made threats to kill. The other individuals who didn’t see that shooting attacked him in the street like an animal.”
The case before the jury is about self-defense, Mr. Richards said, describing a scene of lawlessness that ruled in Kenosha that night, and a series of shootings that happened so quickly that Mr. Rittenhouse had to make lightning-fast decisions on when to pull the trigger.
Mr. Richards acknowledged the prosecutor’s argument that Mr. Rittenhouse’s actions appear less reasonable if jurors consider that he was the only person who killed anyone during the unrest that spanned several days in the summer of 2020.
“True,” he said, adding: “Mr. Rittenhouse was the only person who was chased by Joseph Rosenbaum that evening.”
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
true mr rittenhouse was the only one who killed someone on that night, but three others wanted to see kyle dead.
And, he could have added that when Kyle ran, he ran TOWARDS the police to advise them of what happened. He did not have a consciousness of guilt.
i watched all day...the prosecutor was pathetic. He has no case....the defense attorney won the case on his opening statement alone...
This will become more common in the cities that defund police and don’t prosecute criminals
It is better to be judged by twelve, than carried by six.
5.56mm
I watched a number of videos and they ALL support a self-defense action, with severe injury or death for him if not pursued. It really is “open and shut”.
Attorney Andrew F. Branca disagrees.
A Jew in Nazi Germany killed a Nazi in self defense.
Do we expect the Jew to be tried fairly?
Steven Crowder’s coverage of the trial was excellent, especially at the beginning he was showing video of the incident.
Attorney Andrew F. Branca disagrees.
Agrees. According to his tweets that I have read....
Interesting that the prosecutor opened with a series of accusations (which sounded a lot like a a strong defense argument?!?) ... but then the defense gave a position with LOTS of video and photos showing justified self-protection. Hopefully the jury noted the extraordinary difference: verbal accusations indicating little/no malice, vs a mountain of evidence right up front.
Prosecution brought up “Rosenbaum just left the hospital” without reason, yet objected when defense wanted to address WHY Mr. Shoot Me N***** was hospitalized (a _mental_ hospital for _attempted_suicide_). Judge deferred deciding on that objection, but right up front defense opened a door he didn’t want opened, and will spend the rest of the case trying to close it.
No, the "peaceful protestors" shouldn't have been rioting. Yes, the police should have done their jobs. No, their bosses shouldn't have tied the police's hands behind their backs.
But at the end of the day if nobody else protects your home town it's up to the people of that town to protect it. They should all be embarrassed that it got so bad that a teenager from another state had to go try to protect it. If the men of the first few towns had protected their towns there wouldn't have been many towns destroyed and Kyle wouldn't be on trial right now.
Observational comments by Branca today
Prosecutor Binger finishes opening, exactly the kind of ambiguous and irrelevant hand-waving one would expect in this kind of politically motived trial. Virtually no evidence inconsistent with lawful self-defense.
"How'd the state prosecutor do on open argument?" "It was ugly. He got Binger'd"
Prosecutor Binger must have pooped himself when he sat down after his evidence-free opening statement and then saw Defense Attorney Richards get his 40-something exhibits ready for defense open. Rut-roh.
Permanent term for this now: "He got Binger'd"
Will be interesting to see Branca's final summary blog post tonight. I haven't followed the case very closely but there hasn't been much to follow up until now. Yesterday was a speed jury selection. Half or more of remaining jurors are firearm owners which should help Kyle, especially when they see videos, though they've probably already seen them all on the web. In all cases, Kyle's running away from trouble but trouble catches up so he protects himself and prevents someone else from getting the weapon. Branca did freak a little when he heard the defense suggest that the jury will hear from Kyle. Not sure what to make of that. Good thing for defense maybe but could be catastrophic on cross examination.
But has the kangaroo court jury been fixed?
Perhaps there are legal pitfalls in this tack, but I’d like to see the jurors confronted with the fact that although Rittenhouse possessed the means to gun down dozens of rioters, he didn’t. He only shot three particular guys. Ask, “Why those three guys and not others?”, then provide the answer via the videos. Jurors with enough sense to breathe will work out exactly why. Case over.
Great live coverage by Crowder and company this morning (warning: 3 plus hr long vid): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ncvSbymtSP8
Regarding Rosenbaum, and correct me if I am wrong, but each of those who assaulted Rittenhouse had criminal records (rap sheets) ...
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