Rittenhouse lawyers to seek mistrial
KENOSHA, WIS. — Defense attorneys at Kyle Rittenhouse’s murder trial said Wednesday they will ask the judge to declare a mistrial after prosecutors posed what appeared to be improper questions of Rittenhouse on the stand.
Circuit Judge Bruce Schroeder did not immediately rule, saying he would give the prosecution a chance to respond.
At issue were questions from prosecutors about Rittenhouse protecting property and about his silence after his arrest.
Meanwhile, Rittenhouse took the stand at his murder trial and testified he was under attack when he shot three men during a night of turbulent protests in Kenosha. “I didn’t do anything wrong. I defended myself,” he said.
Making the high-risk decision to testify at his murder trial, the 18-year-old Rittenhouse told the jury one of the men cornered him and made a grab for his rifle, another hit him with a skateboard, and the third came at him with a gun of his own.
Rittenhouse sobbed so hard at one point that the judge declared a break. But otherwise, he was composed on the stand, even as he was being cross-examined so aggressively that the judge berated the chief prosecutor with the jury out of the room.
Rittenhouse is on trial on charges of killing two men and wounding a third during unrest that erupted in the summer of 2020 over the wounding of a Black man by a white Kenosha police officer. He could get life in prison if convicted of the most serious charges against him.
Rittenhouse, who was 17 at the time, went to Kenosha with an AK-style semi-automatic weapon and a medic bag in what the former police youth cadet said was an attempt to protect property after rioters had set fires and ransacked businesses on previous nights.
Rittenhouse testified he fatally shot Joseph Rosenbaum after Rosenbaum chased him and put his hand on the barrel of Rittenhouse’s rifle. He said he then shot and killed Anthony Huber after Huber struck him in the neck with his skateboard and grabbed his gun.