Sides To Hammer Out Rittenhouse Jury Rules; State May Ask For Lesser Charges
KENOSHA, Wis. (AP) — Prosecutors and defense attorneys for Kyle Rittenhouse will return to the courthouse without the jury present on Friday to finalize how jurors will be instructed when they get the case next week and begin deliberating.
Rittenhouse’s lawyers rested their case Thursday, putting on about 2 1/2 days of testimony to the prosecution’s five, with the most riveting moment coming when the 18-year-old told the jury that he was defending himself when he fatally shot two men and wounded a third on the streets of Kenosha in the summer of 2020.
Jury instructions will be worked out on Friday, and closing arguments are expected on Monday.
Prosecutors in Kyle Rittenhouse’s murder trial could ask the jury to consider less serious charges in a trade-off that could help get a conviction but would ensure that he wouldn’t receive a life sentence.
Rittenhouse is accused of shooting three people, two fatally, during an August 2020 protest against police brutality in Kenosha, Wisconsin. He faces multiple charges, including first-degree intentional homicide, which is punishable by life in prison.
Rittenhouse says he fired in self-defense and prosecutors have struggled as multiple witnesses painted the men who were shot as the aggressors.
Daniel Adams, a former Milwaukee prosecutor who isn’t involved in the case, says the prosecutors trying it will likely ask jurors to consider second-degree intentional homicide charges.