KENOSHA, Wis. — Prosecutors in Wisconsin are trying to block two California attorneys from defending Kyle Rittenhouse — who fatally shot two men and wounded a third during summer protests in Kenosha — alleging in a court filing that one lawyer's involvement with a fundraising effort "provides ample opportunity for self-dealing and fraud."
In a motion filed Thursday morning, Kenosha County Assistant District Attorney Thomas Binger cited public records and news reports that he said indicates that attorney John M. Pierce has "significant personal financial difficulties." The motion argued that Pierce should not be allowed to represent the Antioch, Illinois, 17-year-old against a count of murder and other charges because "money that should be held in trust for the defendant may instead be used to repay attorney Pierce's numerous creditors."
The objection is an unusual one for the Kenosha County courts, where out-of-state attorneys routinely participate in cases as long as there is at least one defense team member licensed to practice law in Wisconsin. Rittenhouse also has two local attorneys.
The prosecution has alleged that the Los Angeles-based Pierce and colleague Andrew Calderon haven't followed Wisconsin's rules about what lawyers can say about cases before trial. In another recent court filing, prosecutors asked for an order barring Rittenhouse's lawyers from making out-of-court statements that might sway future potential jurors and complained about Pierce publicly attacking District Attorney Michael Graveley.
Calderon declined comment, deferring questions to Pierce, who was not immediately available. Rittenhouse's lawyers have yet to respond to either motion in court.
Before Thursday's motion was filed, Kenosha County Judge Bruce Schroeder signed orders allowing Pierce and Calderon to participate in the case. At an online hearing later Thursday morning, attorneys on both sides agreed they would address the prosecutors' motion before a judge on a date that was not specified. Racine lawyer Mark Richards, who also represents Rittenhouse, said he felt the prosecutors' motion had been filed too late to have any effect.
At that hearing, Court Commissioner Loren Keating took the procedural step of finding there was probable cause to continue with Rittenhouse's prosecution. He also rejected Rittenhouse's lawyers' motion to dismiss two of the more minor counts — a gun charge and a count of reckless endangerment. The next court date is Jan. 5.
Rittenhouse has been free since last month, when his attorneys posted $2 million and bailed him out of the Kenosha County jail over the objections of family members and lawyers of two of the men he shot.
Rittenhouse spent 2 1/2 months in custody following his shooting of three men with an AR-15-style rifle during chaotic protests Aug. 25. Those sometimes destructive demonstrations came after white police Officer Rusten Sheskey shot Jacob Blake, who is Black, several times in the back at close range.
Rittenhouse fatally shot Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, and Anthony Huber, 26. A third man, Gaige Grosskreutz, who prosecutors have said was armed with a handgun, survived the teen shooting him in the arm. Rittenhouse's attorneys have argued he shot all the men in self-defense.
Prosecutors also have charged Rittenhouse's friend Dominick Black with illegally providing the rifle to the teen.
The prosecution motion against Rittenhouse's lawyers raises questions about the #FightBack Foundation, a group that serves as the online fundraising arm for Rittenhouse's defense. The foundation, which also is seeking contributions to challenge the presidential election results, took credit for raising Rittenhouse's bond money.
Prosecutors described it as "an unregulated and unreported slush fund" with close ties to Pierce. Pierce help start the foundation in 2020, but he has told the Chicago Tribune he has stepped away from its board to avoid any conflicts related to his involvement in the Rittenhouse case.
The prosecution noted Pierce's calls for donations to the fund and argued that the fundraising could run afoul of Wisconsin's code of conduct for attorneys, the motion alleges. The situation is compounded by Pierce's alleged financial difficulties, Binger wrote.
"This creates a potential conflict of interest for attorney Pierce," the motion states. "Given his own substantial personal debts, his involvement with an unregulated and opaque 'slush fund' provides ample opportunity for self-dealing and fraud. The more that the Foundation raises in donations, the more he may personally benefit. Money that should be held in trust for the defendant may instead be used to repay attorney Pierce's numerous creditors."
As they sought to raise Rittenhouse's bail money, Pierce and another of the teen's attorneys, L. Lin Wood of Georgia, appealed to the political right, where Rittenhouse is popular. Wood and Pierce used their Twitter accounts to ask for funds while also championing other causes supported by some on the right, including the push to overturn President Donald Trump's election loss through baseless claims of widespread voter fraud.
Wood has been particularly active in trying to undermine the election, including with litigation. On Tuesday, he tweeted that the country was headed for civil war and encouraged Trump to declare martial law. Wood's Twitter biography contains a hashtag embraced by followers of QAnon, a right-wing conspiracy theory positing that top Democrats, among others, are Satan-worshiping pedophiles. He tweeted in late August that despite his use of the hashtag he is not a conspiracy theorist.
