Teen who killed 2 at Wis. protest fighting extradition to home state

Kyle Rittenhouse’s attorneys are fighting his return to Wisconsin to face a murder charge and other alleged crimes after he killed two men and wounded a third during protests in Kenosha last month.

Defendants frequently waive their right to challenge extradition, but a lawyer for the 17- year- old from Antioch, Ill., told Lake County Judge Paul Novak during a brief online hearing Friday morning that he plans to contest the process.

Attorney John M. Pierce did not detail the legal arguments he plans to make but said the case would involve “issues of some complexity, frankly, that have not arisen in the country for some time.”

Mr. Rittenhouse appeared by video, wearing a dark shirt and a face mask and sitting against a white brick wall. He said nothing beyond greeting the judge.

Lawyers who have handled extradition cases said Mr. Rittenhouse could face an uphill climb. While it’s unclear what issues Mr. Pierce might raise, extradition proceedings typically do not involve a defense against the charges and instead focus on specific questions about the validity of the legal paperwork and whether the person jailed is actually the person charged with the crime, attorneys said.

Numerous video clips show Mr. Rittenhouse at the scene, and Mr. Pierce has acknowledged in a written statement that his client shot the people but argued he fired in self- defense. Chicago attorney Stephen Komie, who has handled numerous extradition matters, said that because the identity question appears to have been resolved, he expects Mr. Rittenhouse to be extradited.

Elgin, Ill.- based attorney Brian Mirandola, a former Kane County assistant state’s attorney, said defendants rarely beat extradition because the hurdles prosecutors have to clear are low.

The judge set the next hearing for Oct. 9.