Lawyers forWis. shooter fight extradition
Judge schedules Oct. 30 hearing for Rittenhouse
A Lake County judge plans to hear arguments at the end of the month as he weighs whether he’ll order Kyle Rittenhouse returned toWisconsin to face a murder charge and other counts stemming from the fatal shooting of two men and the wounding of a third during protests in Kenosha in August.
Judge Paul Novak said at a brief online hearing Friday morning he’d hear from defense lawyers, prosecutors and any witnesses Oct. 30. Novak did not say whenhe plans to rule onthe Antioch 17-year-old’spotential extradition to Kenosha County.
Authorities on both sides of the border are seeking to send the teen back to Wisconsin, while his lawyers — who contend he shot the men in self-defense — laid out their objections in a court filing Thursday afternoon. The petition argues, in part, that sending the teen to adult jail inKenosha County would endanger him.
Rittenhouse is being held without bail in Lake County’s juvenile detention facility. Kenosha County prosecutors charged him with shooting three men with an AR-15-style rifle Aug. 25 during violent protests over white police Officer Rusten Sheskey’s shooting of 29year-old Black man Jacob Blake a couple of days earlier. Blake was recently discharged from a Wiscon
sin hospital and is being treated at an Illinois rehabilitation clinic, his uncle told The Associated Press.
At the video hearing Friday, Lake County Assistant State’s Attorney Stephen Scheller pressed for a quick resolution to the extradition question, saying,“Thelawis pretty clear cut on this.” Rittenhouse defense attorney John M. Pierce argued “there is no reason to rush” and said hewanted the teen to have due process.
Thejudge called forprosecutors’ written position by Oct. 15 and lists of potential witnesses from both sides by Oct. 22. The judge said the hearing Oct. 30 would be held in-person, unlike prior ones that have been held via video because of the ongoing pandemic.
Rittenhouse appeared on video Friday morning in dark jail clothes and a face mask. He said nothing during the discussion of his potential extradition.
The teen’s lawyers have beenpromoting fundraising efforts for his defense as they argue against his return toWisconsin.
His attorneys argued in a petition filed late Thursday
that extradition would violate his Fourth Amendment right against unreasonable search or seizure, contending that the video shows “without a shadow of a doubt” he shot in selfdefense. Kenosha County prosecutors used video from the scene as the basis of their charges, which accuse the teen of showing “utter disregard for human life.”
The filing also argues that sending Rittenhouse toWisconsin would violate his 14th Amendment due process rights because he would face a “legion of hazards” if put in adult jail. Asone piece of evidence for that, the petition cites a Twitter account that describes itself as speaking for an “imprisoned group of prisoner human rights advocates.” The filing cites a tweet reading, “If he goes to a cell and anyone gets a lock on his location— email it to us.”
“To extradite Rittenhousewould be to turn him over to the mob,” the filing states.
The petition also contends there are technical problems with the arrest
and charging documents, alleging a missing signature and that the Kenosha County district attorney’s office didn’t show that a prosecutor swore to the facts before a magistrate.
Lake County State’s Attorney Mike Nerheim said at a news conference outside court Friday morning that he believed the paperwork was in order. He acknowledged there had been threats against Rittenhouse but did not go into detail. Still, he said, “I don’t know that he’s in any more or less danger here than he would be (inWisconsin).”
Kenosha County prosecutors could not be reached for comment.
Lawyers with experience in extradition cases have told the Tribune that Rittenhouse faces an uphill climb against a process that typically focuses on questions such as whether the person jailed is actually the person charged with the crime.
Chicago attorney Stephen Komie, who has handled numerous extradition cases, said that even if the judge were to find problems with the paper
work, it likely wouldn’t end Rittenhouse’s prosecution. He said that Wisconsin authorities could correct the paperwork and continue to prosecute the teen. Komie said the constitutional arguments “do not make any sense to me” and voiced skepticism they’d succeed.
If convicted of murder as an adult, Rittenhouse could face a life sentence.
Videos show that Rittenhouse — an ardent supporter of police who participated in groups for aspiring officers — was among numerous civilians armed with rifles who interjected themselves into the protests, property destruction and looting that followed Blake’s shooting.
Kenosha County prosecutors wrote that video showed the teen running across a parking lot, trailed by Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, of Kenosha. Video showed Rosenbaum appearing to throw a plastic bag at Rittenhouse and missing him, prosecutors wrote. A witness told police that Rosenbaum, who appeared on video to be unarmed, had tried to grab the gun before he was fatally shot, prosecutors wrote.
The petition the teen’s lawyers filed Thursday alleges that someone other thanRosenbaum had fired a gun in Rittenhouse’s direction just before the confrontation that killed Rosenbaum. The filing alleges Rosenbaum had threatened Rittenhouse before chasing the teen and lunging for his rifle. The teen fired “under grave risk of immediate harm,” the petition states.
Rittenhouse then ran before someone knocked off his hat, and he tripped and fell, prosecutors wrote. Then, Anthony Huber, 26, of Silver Lake, Wisconsin, approached Rittenhouse with a skateboard as the teen was still on his back, prosecutors wrote. Huber tried to grab the gun as the skateboard “(made) contact” with Rittenhouse’s shoulder before the gunman fired one shot, and Huber collapsed and died, prosecutors alleged.
Rittenhouse’s lawyers argued in their filing that the skateboard hit Rittenhouse’s head and he shot Huber as they wrestled for control of the rifle.
Prosecutors wrote that Rittenhouse then shot a man who had approached him, Gaige Grosskreutz, of West Allis, Wisconsin. Grosskreutz appeared to be holding a handgun when he was wounded in the arm, prosecutors wrote.
The filing the teen’s lawyers made alleges Grosskreutz “lowered his handgun in Rittenhouse’s direction.”