Kyle Rittenhouse’s attorney says taking the teen to stand at his own trial wasn’t even a close call
“We had a mock jury and we did two different juries, one with him testifying and one without him testifying. Basically, significantly better when he did. evidence … and that sealed it,” said defense attorney Mike Richards. “If you don’t put a customer in perspective, you’ll lose, period.”
Rittenhouse was also found not guilty for injuring Gaige Grosskreutz, now 27, who was present at the protests.
The acquittal has outraged loved ones of the victim and others as the controversial case highlights the national divide between those who see Rittenhouse as a defender of justice and those who see Rittenhouse as a defender of justice. he was like a citizen who stood up to protect the business from looters and riots.
The ruling led to several protests late Friday in Portland, Oregon, Oakland, California and New York City.
Anthony Huber’s family said: “(The verdict) sends the unacceptable message that armed civilians can show up in any town, incite violence and then use danger. that they created to justify shooting people in the street”.
But defense lawyers argued that Rittenhouse, then 17, acted in self-defence.
And in his only public speech after the ruling, Rittenhouse echoed the sentiment.
“The jury made the correct verdict. It’s not illegal to defend yourself. I believe they made the correct verdict and I’m glad everything went well,” he said. in a video promoting a Tucker Carlson Originals special about the case.
“It’s been a tough journey, but we got through it. We got through the hard part.”
“Kyle said, ‘If I had to do it all over again and had any idea this could happen, I wouldn’t do it,'” Richards said. “I want to be clear. It’s not about regrets for what he did that night under those circumstances,” Rittenhouse said, adding that morally “wishes he didn’t have to do it.”
The judgment is not surprising to legal experts
Putting Rittenhouse on a stand gives jurors the ability to hear what he thought at the time and whether he believed he was in danger – a statement that federal prosecutor Elie Honig said. speak.
Honig added: “The prosecution has not created enough cracks in Kyle Rittenhouse. “Every time he shoots, he gets hit.”
Civil rights attorney Charles F. Coleman Jr. said the trial with two competing narratives. “I said.
The jury, consisting of five men and seven women, reached their unanimous verdict after deliberating for more than 25 hours over four days in the case under scrutiny. The judgment cannot be appealed.
After reviewing video evidence from the night of the shooting during deliberation, the jury ultimately agreed with Rittenhouse’s testimony that he feared for his life and acted in self-defence.
Relatives of victims are angry because of lack of responsibility
The families of the victims expressed deep disappointment with the way the justice system handled the case.
“Today’s sentencing means there is no accountability for our son’s killer,” the Huber family said. “We didn’t attend the trial because we couldn’t bear to sit in the courtroom and constantly watch videos of our son’s murder.”
Huber’s girlfriend, Hannah Gittings, said those who participated in last year’s protests were not so surprised.
“We knew the system was a failure,” she said. “Personally, I’m not particularly surprised by the outcome of this ruling.”
A criminal complaint alleges that Huber reached for Rittenhouse’s gun while holding a skateboard in the other. Huber’s biological aunt, Susan Hughes, said her nephew sees Rittenhouse as an active gunman and is trying to stop him.
“That’s the Anthony I know. He’s very much someone who’s going to get into action,” Hughes told CNN.
“Kyle got into his emotional dilemma to deal with it, walking away after killing two people and killing another. That just didn’t seem fair,” she said. “Everybody has a right to defend themselves. … Anthony also has a right to his life.”
Kariann Swart, Joseph Rosenbaum’s fiancée, said she felt the victims’ lives were not important in this case.
“If one person’s life or two people’s lives don’t matter, our lives don’t matter,” Swart said. “And I don’t think that’s acceptable.”
President Joe Biden acknowledged that the ruling “will make a lot of Americans feel angry and concerned, myself included,” he said, saying that everyone “has to admit that the jury spoke.”
Meanwhile, Vice President Kamala Harris said there was “obviously a lot of work to be done” to make the criminal justice system fairer.
CNN’s Raja Razek, Chris Boyette, Andy Rose, Sara Sidner, Leinz Vales, Jason Kravarik and Christina Maxrious contributed to this report.
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