A group of 18 jurors were in court for the entire trial but six were disqualified by a random draw Tuesday morning. The 12-person final jury consisted of five men and seven women, according to a pool reporter in court.
Shortly after deliberation began, shortly after 9 a.m. CT, jurors asked the judge for additional 36-page jury instructions. They initially requested additional copies of pages 1 through 6 of the manual and then requested additional copies from pages 7 through 36, according to the pool reporter.
The jurors concluded deliberations for the day just before 7 p.m. CT. They are expected to resume weighing on Wednesday at 9 a.m
In final arguments Monday, the prosecution argued that Rittenhouse, 17 at the time, incited the deadly shooting by pointing his AR-15-style weapon at Joseph Rosenbaum, causing the shooting. a series of events that left two people dead and one injured.
Prosecutor Thomas Binger said: “That’s what provoked the whole case. “When the defendant provoked this episode, he lost his right to defend himself. You can’t claim defense against a risk you created.”
In response, defense attorney Mark Richards said Rittenhouse feared for his life when he shot dead Rosenbaum, who Richards alleges threatened him, chased him, and threw a plastic bag at him. and jumped at his gun. Rittenhouse also shot at three other people who, his attorney argued, attacked him.
“Everybody who was shot attacked Kyle. One on a skateboard, one with his arms and one with his feet, one with a gun,” Richards said. “Hands and feet can do great damage to the body.”
“I did nothing wrong. I defended myself,” he testified.
Rittenhouse, 18, was charged with five felony counts: first-degree murder, first-degree reckless murder, first-degree murder and two counts of first-degree reckless endangerment for safety. The jury may also consider lesser offenses on two of the five counts. If found guilty of the most serious offences, Rittenhouse could face the mandatory sentence of life in prison.
What happened in court?
Prosecutors called 22 witnesses over the course of six days as they sought to show that Rittenhouse acted recklessly and provoked Rosenbaum by pointing a rifle at him. Prosecutors described three other people who confronted the teenager as “heroes” trying to prevent what they saw as an active shooting.
However, he testified on cross-examination that he knew Rosenbaum was unarmed when he opened fire. Rittenhouse also admitted that he had pointed a gun at the man – something the prosecution said provoked Rosenbaum in the first place.
“He was chasing me, I was alone, he threatened to kill me earlier that night. I didn’t want to shoot him,” Rittenhouse testified. “I pointed it at him because he kept running at me and I didn’t want him chasing me.”
The trial featured more than a dozen videos from the night showing what happened before, during and after the shooting. Most of the facts about what happened that night are not up for debate – rather, the focus of the trial was on analyzing Rittenhouse’s actions and whether they could be considered “reasonable”. .
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