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Kyle Rittenhouse jury to begin deliberations Tuesday after closing arguments

Before arguments began Monday, the judge in the case threw out a misdemeanor gun charge against Rittenhouse.

Nov. 15 (UPI) -- The jury in the homicide trial of Kyle Rittenhouse will begin deliberations on Tuesday after both the prosecution and defense offered their closing arguments on Monday.

Attorneys presented their case last week against Rittenhouse, who is charged with reckless homicide in the first degree for killing two men last year during protests in Kenosha, Wis., after the police shooting of Jacob Blake.

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Before opening arguments were to begin, Judge Bruce Schroeder dismissed one of the lesser charges against Rittenhouse -- a misdemeanor count of illegal possession of a dangerous weapon by a person under 18. The count was considered by some experts as the charge most likely to bring a conviction.

While the facts are not in dispute, that he used a military-style AR-15 in the shooting, Rittenhouse's defense is rooted in claims that he acted in self-defense when he shot and killed Joseph Rosenbaum and Anthony Huber during the unrest in Kenosha in August 2020.

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He also is charged with first-degree attempted homicide for shooting medic Gaige Grosskreutz.

Prosecutors essentially argued that Rittenhouse packed his gun and traveled from his home in Antioch, Ill., to Kenosha looking for a fight.

"This is a case in which a 17-year-old teenager killed two unarmed men and severely wounded a third person with an AR-15 that did not belong to him," Prosecutor Thomas Bringer said Monday.

Binger also noted that Rittenhouse "spent the entire evening lying about the fact that he was an EMT and acted recklessly during the chaos of the demonstrations as he never had cause to believe that deadly force was necessary against Rosenbaum and Huber, both of whom were unarmed.

"He killed people after traveling from Antioch, Ill., and staying out after a citywide curfew," he said.

Defense attorney Mark Richards interrupted to note that "there's no curfew charge anymore" but Judge Bruce Schroeder acknowledged that "there had been an announced curfew."

Rittenhouse, who was 17 at the time of the shootings, said on the witness stand last week that he traveled to Kenosha to help protect other people's property from rioters.

Richards argued that Rittenhouse did not travel to Kenosha to look for trouble but rather because he "feels for this community."

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"When he came down here, are we to believe that he's working to clean up graffiti, not getting paid, because he's here to look for trouble?" Richards asked. "Is he all some master plan? That's ridiculous. He came down here, trying to help to see the damage. That's what he did."

Photo courtesy Kenosha County Sheriff's Department

Binger sought to dismiss Rittenhouse's testimony that he acted in self-defense after Rosenbaum threw a plastic bag at him and chased him after threatening to kill him earlier in the night.

He played video in which he said Rittenhouse's left arm could be seen reaching for his gun and holding it up, which he said was what "provokes the entire incident" that led to the fatal shooting, adding that Rosenbaum, who was unarmed, was not within "an arm's length" of Rittenhouse when the teen fired his weapon.

"You cannot claim self-defense against a danger you create," Binger told the jury, citing Wisconsin law. "That's critical right here. If you're the one who is threatening others, you lose the right to claim self-defense."

During his closing arguments, Richards accused Binger of "lying" and "misrepresenting" the evidence when he said Rittenhouse provoked the violence, saying Rittenhouse "was taking off" when Rosenbaum and others began chasing him.

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He added that Rosenbaum was "leaping" and "lunging" at his client and his "hand was on the gun" Rittenhouse carried.

Binger said that Rittenhouse should have continued to run away from Rosenbaum, stating he "chose to run" between two parked cars and "slows down" before shooting.

"One of the things that [the] judge instructed you, is when the defendant provokes the situation he has to exhaust all reasonable means to avoid killing someone," he told the jury. "Did he? He didn't have to shoot."

Richards lodged a similar argument against Grosskreutz, the only victim to survive the shooting, stating he should have "retreated" and not confronted Rittenhouse.

Richards said video played before the jury shows Rittenhouse saying he was going to the police after coming into contact with Grosskreutz, at which point Grosskreutz should have "let him be and go give aid and comfort" to Rosenbaum.

"Instead, he joins the mob, chasing Kyle, arms himself and runs in -- the fifth or sixth person there to the melee," Richards said, noting that Grosskreutz was "advancing" on Rittenhouse when he shot him.

"Mr. Grosskreutz decides he's going to shoot my client. Unfortunately, my client shot him first," Richards said. "If he retreated, it's over."

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Binger, following up on testimony from Grosskreutz that his gun was pointed at Rittenhouse before the teen shot him, said that his arm moved into that position involuntarily after Rittenhouse shot him in the arm, severing his bicep.

"That right arm is probably dangling down toward the defendant. It's not going to be able to pull that trigger without a working bicep muscle and it is not a voluntary thing," Binger said. "It is done because the defendant just blew his arm off. But, yeah, this is the time after the shooting when yes, the gun happens to be pointed at the defendant."

Regarding the shooting of Huber, Richards said that Rittenhouse shot him after he struck the teen in the head and was going for a "second lick," adding that he was "trying to take his head off."

He added that Grosskreutz "said he was concerned" about the "blows" being dealt to Rittenhouse.

Richards also accused police of a "rush to judgment" for arresting Rittenhouse at 6 a.m. the morning after the shooting, before "all of the bullets have been picked up" off the ground.

He added that "word got out" that Rittenhouse traveled across state lines with his AR-15 and rumors about him having White supremacist ties began to circulate as he speculated police were "under pressure" to arrest him.

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The closing arguments segment began slowly as the prosecution and defense argued over jury instructions.

Rittenhouse, who is facing five felony counts, waited quietly as the attorneys butted heads over the instructions, delaying the closing arguments until close to lunchtime.

Schroeder spent an hour reading instructions to the jury, telling them to focus on the five original felony charges before considering lesser charges.

Prosecutors and Rittenhouse's lawyers debated over if the judge should read the self-defense instructions on each of the five counts. Schroeder said self-defense will apply to each count but believed repeating the same set of lengthy instructions on each count was "a monumental waste of time."

Schroeder, who has been the target of substantial criticism over the course of the trial -- for various behaviors, including making an ethnicity-based joke and ruling that Rosenbaum and Huber could not be referred to as "victims" -- gave final instructions to the jury before closing arguments began Monday.

While Rittenhouse still faces five felony charges in connection with the shootings, Schroeder also will allow the jury to consider lesser charges -- a count of second-degree intentional homicide and another unspecified charge in Huber's shooting. He said a second-degree charge could not be considered in Rosenbaum's shooting.

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Aside from the homicide charges, Rittenhouse faces two counts of first-degree recklessly endangering safety for firing his rifle at two people who were not hit.

Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers agreed over the weekend to activate about 500 National Guard troops in the Kenosha area in case of unrest after the verdict.

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