The trial of Kyle Rittenhouse, the 18-year-old charged with killing two people and wounding a third during demonstrations in Kenosha, Wisconsin last year, is continuing Thursday, a day after he took the stand in his own defense and his attorneys asked for a mistrial.
Defense attorneys accused prosecutors of asking improper questions of Rittenhouse and intentionally trying to provoke a mistrial to avoid an acquittal, because the case is going badly for them, and they want to start over, CBS Chicago reports. The defense is seeking a mistrial “with prejudice,” meaning prosecutors would be barred from trying Rittenhouse a second time.
At issue were questions prosecutors asked Rittenhouse about his silence after his arrest last year, and the propriety of using deadly force to protect private property.
Judge Bruce Schroeder did not immediately rule on the defense’s request, saying he would give the prosecution a chance to respond.
Rittenhouse, who fatally shot two people and wounded a third during the protest against police brutality in August 2020, claims he acted in self-defense. He broke into tears Wednesday when his attorneys questioned him about why he fatally shot the first victim.
“I didn’t do anything wrong, I was defending myself,” he said.
But the prosecution attempted to discredit the core of his defense by questioning why a teenager who illegally possessed an AR-15 style rifle would feel that his life was in danger. Thomas Binger, the lead prosecutor, tried to paint Rittenhouse as an armed threat.
“You’re telling us that you felt like you were about to die, right? But when you point the gun at someone else, that’s going to make them feel like they’re about to die, right? That’s what you wanted him to feel,” Binger said.
Flustered and on the verge of tears for the second time, Rittenhouse claimed one of the victims could have “ran away instead of trying to take my gun from me. It didn’t stop him.”
Rittenhouse, who was 17 at the time of the shooting, was charged as an adult with two counts of first-degree homicide and one count of attempted homicide. He also faces charges of recklessly endangering the safety of two other victims, and possessing a weapon while under the age of 18.
