CHICAGO — Kyle Rittenhouse will be back in a Kenosha County, Wisconsin, courtroom Tuesday seeking permission to call an expert witness on self-defense when his murder trial begins next month.
Such testimony is critical to Rittenhouse’s defense, as his lawyers will attempt to convince a jury that the teenager believed he had to shoot three people that night in order to prevent his own death or serious injury.
Similar to other states, Wisconsin law allows people to use guns to defend themselves against serious threats, but there are exceptions to that right. In order for Rittenhouse to legally justify killing two people and wounding a third, his attorneys must prove that he exhausted other chances to flee and had a reasonable fear for his own safety.
Rittenhouse, then 17, shot three people in downtown Kenosha with an AR-15-style rifle that police say a friend illegally purchased for him. Despite not being old enough to openly carry a gun, Rittenhouse took it upon himself to patrol the southeast Wisconsin town amid the turmoil surrounding the shooting of Jacob Blake, a Black man, by a white police officer in August 2020.
Rittenhouse’s defense attorneys say their expert, John R. Black, will give jurors a frame-by-frame breakdown of the shootings and offer an explanation for Rittenhouse’s actions amid the chaotic scene.
Circuit Judge Bruce Schroeder, however, has signaled he could limit Black’s testimony or even ban it altogether. At a pretrial hearing last month, Schroeder said Black would not be allowed to explain the law to jurors because that is solely the judge’s responsibility.
Acknowledging Black may be able to provide expertise on Rittenhouse’s gun handling or reaction times, Schroeder set a pretrial hearing for Tuesday to discuss the testimony. Black, who has testified in several police use-of-force cases, is slated to appear by video conference, according to court records.
“When it comes to use of force, I am the expert,” Schroeder said. “I’m the only one who is going to be defining what is reasonable under the law, what constitutes self-defense. I’m not going to have competition in the courtroom.”
Defense attorneys argue Rittenhouse acted in self-defense that night after being chased by Joseph Rosenbaum, the first man he fatally shot. Without offering any evidence, they told Schroeder last month that Rosenbaum — a convicted sex offender who had recently been institutionalized — had been chasing Rittenhouse because he couldn’t purchase his own gun with a criminal record and wanted to steal the teen’s assault rifle.
After shooting Rosenbaum, Rittenhouse ran down the street before tripping and falling. While on the ground, Rittenhouse shot two men who approached him to seemingly take his gun. Anthony Huber died from a single gunshot wound while Gaige Grosskreutz was hit in the arm and survived.
Self-defense cases are always arduous undertakings, largely because the defense assumes the burden of proving the accused’s actions were justified. That task could be even more difficult for Rittenhouse’s attorneys after prosecutors disclosed last month that the FBI has images showing Rittenhouse was the one who initially followed Rosenbaum.
As the two reached the car lot where the shooting occurred, Rittenhouse said something to Rosenbaum, who then turned around and started to chase Rittenhouse, prosecutors said. The recording was captured by an infrared camera attached to an FBI fixed wing aircraft that was monitoring the city during the unrest.
The video has not been made public, so the Tribune cannot independently verify what the recording shows.
Rittenhouse’s trial is scheduled to begin Nov. 1.
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