Crime & Safety
Kyle Rittenhouse's Request To Buck Illegal Weapon Charge Denied
A Kenosha judge denied a request from Rittenhouse's defense to dismiss an illegal weapons charge.
WISCONSIN — Kenosha County Circuit Court Judge Bruce Schroeder denied a request from Kyle Rittenhouse's defense to dismiss the charge that he possessed his gun illegally at a Kenosha protest.
Rittenhouse is accused of shooting and killing Joseph Rosenbaum and Anthony Huber and wounding Gaige Grosskreutz amidst days of protests in Kenosha in August 2020. Protests were sparked after the police shooting of Jacob Blake, a Black man, by a white police officer.
Rittenhouse was 17 at the time and says he is innocent of wrongdoing, but he faces multiple charges. His trial is set to begin Nov. 1.
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One of Rittenhouse's charges was possessing a dangerous weapon under the age of 18, a misdemeanor. The judge dismissed the request to dismiss the charge, but said he would give it another consideration later.
Corey Chirafisi, one of Rittenhouse's attorneys, said that state laws on handling weapons didn't apply to the man in 2020 because he was 17 at the time.
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Defense attorneys brought in Dr. John Black, a weapons and law enforcement expert to testify before the judge. While talking to attorney Mark Richards, Black said that Rittenhouse was "not the initiator of his actions" in the minutes of footage of the shooting.
The judge didn't hear a request of whether or not to use a video that appears to show Rittenhouse threatening strangers as they walked out of a CVS pharmacy. Prosecutors filed a motion in August 2021 to include the footage in the trial.
The judge said in a letter to attorneys on Sept. 23 that guidelines for picking jury members would be discussed in an upcoming hearing. Schroeder also said he didn't plan to allow advance questionnaires.
In a previous hearing, Kenosha Assistant District Attorney Thomas Binger wanted to use photos of Kyle Rittenhouse meeting members of the far-right group the Proud Boys meeting in a bar as evidence of the man's mindset before and after the shooting. Schroeder denied the motion and said the pictures were too far removed from the shooting to be used in the trial.
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