Before jurors can begin deliberating in a case leaving America divided, attorneys must give closing arguments before the court in Kyle Rittenhouse's murder trial.
Discussions over jury instructions began on Friday, with closing arguments expected to take place Monday and last four to five hours. After closing arguments, names will be drawn to decide which 12 jurors will deliberate and which ones will be dismissed as alternates.
Eighteen people have been hearing the case over the past two weeks. The panel appeared overwhelmingly white.
Among other charges, Rittenhouse is facing a charge of first-degree intentional homicide, which is equivalent to first-degree murder in Illinois and other states and carries a basic sentence of life in prison.
As the judge and the attorneys in the case hammer out which instructions in the law will be given to the jury, however, the prosecution said it wants jurors to be able to consider what are often called "lesser included charges."
Former prosecutor Thomas Glasgow said those lesser charges can give the jury an option when there is not a strong case for the charged offenses.
"It allows them to look at something when they may not have had enough evidence to prove the murder," Glasgow said. "If the prosecutor ends up offering the lesser included," Glasgow said, "they have a weaker case and they are acknowledging that."
Judge Bruce Schroeder has already denied some of the lesser included charge requests but said he will notify the attorneys of his final decisions by email on Saturday.
LIVE COVERAGE: A live feed of Kyle Rittenhouse's murder trial is available when court is in session.
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 from attack when he used his rifle to kill two men and wound a third on the streets of Kenosha in the summer of 2020.
Feeling out of the loop? We'll catch you up on the Chicago news you need to know. Sign up for the weekly Chicago Catch-Up newsletter.
Prosecutors have sought to portray Rittenhouse as the instigator of the bloodshed, which took place during a tumultuous night of protests against racial injustice.
He faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison if convicted of the most serious charge against him.
The protests in Kenosha were set off by the wounding of Jacob Blake, a Black man, by a white police officer. Rittenhouse, then 17, went to Kenosha from his home in Antioch, Illinois, with a rifle and a medical kit in what the former police and fire youth cadet said was an effort to protect property after rioters set fires and ransacked businesses on previous nights.
Rittenhouse fatally shot Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, in an initial confrontation and just moments later fatally shot Anthony Huber, 26, and wounded Gaige Grosskreutz, 27. Rittenhouse is white, as were those he shot.
The case has stirred fierce debate over vigilantism, self-defense, the Second Amendment right to bear arms and the unrest that erupted around the U.S. over the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis and other police violence against Black people.
Rittenhouse is charged with first-degree intentional homicide, which is Wisconsin’s murder count; attempted first-degree intentional homicide; first-degree reckless homicide; reckless endangering; and illegal possession of a weapon by a person under 18.
Prosecutors said they will ask Circuit Judge Bruce Schroeder to allow the jury to consider possible lesser charges on some of the counts — potentially the intentional homicide and attempted intentional homicide charges.
One of the final witnesses for the defense was a use-of-force expert, John Black, who testified that less than three seconds passed between the time somebody fired a bullet in the air and Rittenhouse opened fire on the first man he shot, Rosenbaum.
Black took the stand as part of an effort by Rittenhouse’s lawyers to show that he had reason to fear for his life and acted in self-defense.
Rittenhouse, in his own turn on the stand Wednesday, testified that he heard a gunshot directly behind him as he was being chased by Rosenbaum. Authorities said the shot was fired by someone else in the crowd.
The account Rittenhouse gave has largely been corroborated by a wealth of video and the prosecution’s own witnesses: Rittenhouse said that Rosenbaum cornered him and put his hand on the barrel of his rifle, the second man hit him with a skateboard and the third man came at him with a gun of his own.
At one point Wednesday, his lawyers angrily demanded the judge declare a mistrial and bar Rittenhouse from being retried — essentially asking that the whole case be thrown out. They accused the chief prosecutor of asking Rittenhouse out-of-bounds questions.
The judge lambasted the prosecutor but pressed on with the case.
