Prosecution rests case at Rittenhouse murder trial
KENOSHA, WIS. » Prosecutors have rested their case against Kyle Rittenhouse after 5½ days of testimony in which they sought to portray him as the instigator in the shootings that left two men dead and a third wounded during street protests in Kenosha, Wis.
One of the final prosecution witnesses Tuesday was a forensic pathologist who analyzed drone video, obtained by the prosecution late last week, that gave jurors their first glimpse of Rittenhouse shooting Joseph Rosenbaum, the first of those fatally shot.
Prosecutors used extensive video and witnesses, including two former military veterans who were on the streets alongside Rittenhouse, in a bid to convince the jury he was the aggressor.
But some of the witnesses also offered testimony that seemed to bolster Rittenhouse’s claim that he acted in self-defense.
The first man killed by Rittenhouse during the night of turbulent protests in Kenosha was shot at close range of just a few feet and had soot injuries that could indicate he had his hand over the barrel of Rittenhouse’s rifle, the forensic pathologist testified.
But it was unclear from video footage whether Joseph was grabbing for Rittenhouse’s gun or trying to swat it away, said Dr. Doug Kelley, the pathologist with the Milwaukee County medical examiner’s office.
His testimony came after the jury at Rittenhouse’s murder trial watched the drone video that was zoomed-in and slowed down to show Rittenhouse wheeling around and shooting Rosenbaum at close range.
Rittenhouse’s lawyers have suggested he was afraid his gun was going to be taken away and used against him.
The shots
Kelley said Rosenbaum was shot four times by someone who was within 4 feet of him. He testified that Rosenbaum was first wounded in the groin,then in the hand and thigh as he faced Rittenhouse, then was shot in the head and in the back.
Those final two shots were at a downward angle, as if Rosenbaum was horizontal to Rittenhouse, Kelley said. Prosecutors have
said this indicates Rosenbaum was falling forward, while defense attorney Mark Richards said Rosenbaum was lunging.
Kelley said both were possible.
Kelley also said Rosenbaum’s hand was “in close proximity or in contact with the end of that rifle.”
On cross-examination, Richards pointed out the small injuries from soot on
Rosenbaum’s hand and said, “So that hand was over the barrel of Mr. Rittenhouse’s gun when his hand was shot.”
The prosecutor later asked Kelley if Rosenbaum could have been swiping the gun away. Kelley said he couldn’t say, based on the video, what Rosenbaum was doing at the time.
The drone footage was the clearest video yet of the fatal shooting in August 2020 that set in motion the bloodshed that followed moments later: Rittenhouse, then 17, killed Anthony Huber, a 26-year-old protester seen on bystander video hitting Rittenhouse with a skateboard. Rittenhouse then wounded Gaige Grosskreutz, a protester and volunteer medic who came at Rittenhouse with a gun of his own.