A year after the shooting of 3 protestors in Kenosha, Wisconsin, which resulted in the death of 2 individuals.
Kyle Rittenhouse’s Trial, which Judge Bruce Schroeder is overseeing, began this week.
Rittenhouse faces six charges in the criminal complaint, including; intentional homicide.
So what did the first week of trials unveil?
Let’s take a Look.
Monday November 1st, 2021: Jury Selection
On Monday, the Jury was selected for the trial of Kyle Rittenhouse.
Tuesday November 2nd, 2021: Opening Arguments and Testimony of Dominick Black
On Tuesday, the Rittenhouse trial officially began with opening statements from the Prosecution and the Defense and was followed up by the testimony of Dominick Black.
Opening Arguments
TheDefensee elected to let the Prosecution make the first opening argument. In which the Prosecution painted a picture of chaos on the night of the shooting. Stating that despite all the chaos, he points out that only one individual felt the need to shoot another.
Kenosha County Assistant District Attorney Thomas Binger stated in his 33 Minute opening statement: “The same loud noises, the same gunfire, the same arson, the same tear gas, the same hostile confrontations with people who believe the opposite of them. And yet out of these hundreds of people, only one person killed anyone.”
TheDefense’ss argument is that Rittenhouse acted in self-defense to protect himself when he shot Joseph D. Rosenbaum. This spurred a response from the crowd, which led to Rittenhouse being attacked by several, including Anthony Huber and Gaige P. Grosskreutz, which prompted Rittenhouse to again act in self-defense when he killed Huber and shot Grosskreutz in the arm.
Testimony of Dominick Black
After opening arguments was the testimony of Dominick Black. Black, who once considered himself the “brother” of Rittenhouse, accompanied Rittenhouse to Kenosha on August 25th. Black decided to testify in the trial despite having two charges pending against him. Fully aware that his testimony may serve against him in regards to his charges.
Black testified that Rittenhouse did revive the AR-15 from his house. While Black did not personally hand the gun to Rittenhouse, he did not stop Rittenhouse from possessing it. Even though Rittenhouse was a minor (17) and not allowed to possess such a firearm. Further, Black testified that he allowed Rittenhouse to purchase two straps; one for Black and one for himself. So that they could each sling their firearms while defending the property of Car Source.
Black did not witness the shooting but did give Rittenhouse a ride back to Antioch, Illinois. Along the way, Rittenhouse and Black agreed that Rittenhouse would turn himself in, in Antioch. Mainly because they could not get to the police department in Kenosha. And did not want to turn themselves in with firearms. Rittenhouse did turn himself in Antioch that night.
Wednesday November 3rd, 2021: Testimony of Koerri Washington and Detective Mark Howard
On Wednesday, the Jury heard the testimony of one eyewitness, Koerri Washington, a detective investigating the case Detective Mark Howard.
Koerri Washington: Kenosha Local and YouTuber:
Washington is a Kenosha native and a YouTuber who is an active member of the community. He was out in the neighborhood watching the events unfold. He eventually found himself in a position to witness Rausenbau’s behavior that night. And was asked a few details about the encounter.
Detective Martin Howard: Kenosha Detective
The second witness to take the stand was Detective Martin Howard, who testified that his assignment for the day was shutting down gas stations to prevent arson due to the civil unrest. Martin described large groups of cars arriving in Kenosha with “license plates removed,” which alerted them that there might be trouble later.
Soon after that, Detective Martin’s assignment changed to investigating the shooting in which Kyle Rittenhouse was involved. At the time the investigation started, it was not known by police that Rittenhouse was the shooter. Upon cross-examination, Detective Martin admitted to the Defense that it was not a usual investigation because so many people were involved. And permitted to missing shell casings sitting in plain sight that would have been found in a typical investigation. Insinuating the investigation was not thoroughly conducted.
The day wrapped up with a temporary dismissal of Detective Martin Howard and the jurors. After the jurors were dismissed, the Court agreed to discuss a rule of evidence in the morning. And the Prosecution raised a motion to dismiss a juror for a joke he had made to an officer. The Court agreed to hear both issues in the morning.
Thursday November 4th, 2021: Juror Dismissed and Witness Testimony
Thursday began with Juror #7 being struck from the Jury for a joke he made to a police officer on the way out of the courtroom. The joke in question was in regards to the shooting of Jacob Blake.
The trial resumed with the continued testimony of Detective Martin Howard. After a few questions to the detective, he was dismissed from the stand.
Richie McGinniss: Reporter and Witness
Next to the stand was Richie McGinniss, a reporter for the Daily Caller. McGinniss witnessed nearly the entire encounter between Defendant and Rosenbaum at the time Rosenbaum was shot. The reporter began to follow Rittenhouse after he saw him running with a fire extinguisher. Being a reporter, McGinniss pursued the Defendant in hopes of having a story to cover.
Eventually, the reporter witnessed Rosenbaum pursue Rittenhouse. McGinnis said that Rittenhouse ran from Rosenbaum initially until Rittenhouse turned around to face Rosenbaum. At which point Rosenbaum lounged toward the Defendant in what McGinniss said appeared to be an attempt to grab his gun. Stating, “It was very clear to me that he was reaching specifically for the weapon…”
Rittenhouse maneuvered around Rosenbaum, whose momentum carried him forward, at which point Defendant shot him four times.
Ryan Balch: Witness
Next to the stand was Ryan Balch, who, like Rittenhouse and Dominick Black, came to Kenosha to protect private property from the civil unrest. Balch met Rittenhouse, and the two paired up during the evening. Balch, a veteran, said he could tell Rittenhouse was young and perhaps inexperienced. In his testimony, he noted that Defendant appeared “too innocent for his good.”
Balch testified to seeing Rausenbaum before the shooting in question and described him as “hyper-aggressive” and that he appeared to be trying to instigate the armed individuals.
Further, Balch testified that Rausenbaum had been yelling at the, “‘If I catch you guys alone tonight, I’m going to (expletive) kill you,'”
Friday November 5th, 2021: DNA Expert and Testimony
Jason Lackowski: Witness
The day began with the testimony of Jason Lackoski, a former Marine, who described the details of the night. Like Rittenhouse and Balch, Lackoski was in Kenosha to protect property. During the night, Lackoski witnessed Rausenbaum acting “belligerently.” And at one point, Rausenbaum even asked the witness to shoot him and took “false steps” towards him and others to instigate a response.
Amber Rasmussen: DNA Expert
Next was the DNA analyst for Wisconsin Amber Rasmussen of the Wisconsin State Crime Laboratory. She testified that the lab results showed that the only DNA on the trigger was Kyle Rittenhouse’s. The barrel guard had DNA from 2 individuals, the one likely Rittenhouse. She stated that the evidence did not show the DNA of Anthony Huber or Joseph Rosenbaum.
Upon cross-examination, she admitted she had not received any swabs of the barrel of the gun. And could not determine if either of the two had touched the barrel. Rasmussen was then shown two photographs of what appears to be Anthony Huber grabbing the gun of Rittenhouse in an attempt to take it from him. She was asked if it was possible that the DNA of someone might not show up even if they had touched the gun. She said it was possible.
Susan Hughes: Anthony Huber’s Great Aunt
Hughes testified to the character of Huber.
Kariann Swart: Fiance of Rausenbaum
Spoke of the last time she saw Rausenbaum before his death. She testified that Rosenbaum was on medications for bipolar disorder. He had gone to fill his prescription that day, but the Walgreens was closed due to civil unrest.
Sahil Khindri: Owner of Car Planet
Testified to meeting Defendant and several others on that day. He seemed not to know very much about the arrangement with Rittenhouse and others to guard their property.
Anmol Khindri: Employee of Car Source
The testimony of Anmol followed. He was asked if he had ever spoken to or if he knew who Rittenhouse was personally. Which he said he had not. He also said that he did not arrange the Defendant or others to guard their property. He said he did not know and was not aware of the arrangements. But was being evasive to the line of questioning overall. He eventually admitted to meeting Kyle Rittenhouse, yet he continued not to understand very easily to answer questions in an almost comical way.
While testifying, Youtuber CJTV sent an interview he had personally had with Anmol in which Anmol was contradicting himself on the stand. CJTV sent the footage to the Defense, and within 15 minutes, the Defense was using the footage to refute the statements being made by Anmol.
Officer Erich Weidner: Investigator
The next witness Officer Weidner, described the scene as he saw it after the shooting and described the evidence as he saw it.
Jeremy Vanwei’
Described the investigation as well.
Officer Pep Moretti
He testified to be the one to tell Rittenhouse to get out of the road when he initially attempted to turn himself in. Moretti said that he did not know that Rittenhouse was trying to surrender, as he had never witnessed someone attempt to surrender with their hands up and walking towards him.
Week One: Trial Summary of Kyle Rittenhouse
At the end of Week one of the Rittenhouse trial, many questions are still to be answered. Over a dozen witnesses have testified, including the detectives that investigated the incident, as well as Richie McGinniss, who personally saw nearly the entire encounter between Rittenhouse and Rosenbaum. We also heard testimony from the representatives of Car Source, who seem to deny asking for help guarding their property despite photographic evidence.
This summarizes what happened the first week of the Rittenhouse Trial; you can also go here to read Week Two of the Rittenhouse Trial.