The jury in the Kyle Rittenhouse trial on Tuesday afternoon asked for 11 additional copies of the first six pages of the judge’s 36-page instruction packet in the high-profile homicide trial.
The extra paperwork sought by the seven women and five men tapped to decide Rittenhouse’s fate centers on self-defense and provocation, the courtroom pool reporter said.
Page 4 of the jury instructions focuses on crimes requiring the intent to kill. Pages 5 and 6 focus on the first count of first-degree reckless homicide for the fatal shooting of Joseph Rosenbaum.
The jury has been deliberating since 10:15 a.m. Tuesday.
Rittenhouse is charged in the fatal shootings of Rosenbaum, 36, and Anthony Huber, 26. He also wounded Gaige Grosskreutz, 28, after shooting him in the arm and blowing off his bicep.
FIVE MOMENTS IN RITTENHOUSE TRIAL THAT COULD SWAY JURY
The youth cadet from Antioch, Illinois, faces five criminal charges ranging from intentional homicide to recklessly endangering safety that could have landed him behind bars for the rest of his life, though Judge Bruce Schroeder allowed the jury to consider lesser counts. Kenosha County Circuit Judge Bruce Schroeder dismissed a misdemeanor gun possession charge on Monday.
In his instructions to the jury, Schroeder said that to accept Rittenhouse’s claim of self-defense, the jurors must find that he believed there was an unlawful threat to him and that the amount of force he used was reasonable and necessary.
Rittenhouse, who was 17 at the time, journeyed to Kenosha where unrest was sparked by a white police officer shooting a black man, Jacob Blake, seven times in the back at close range, partially paralyzing him. The protests gave way to riots that ended in two deaths, several injuries, multiple arrests, and $50 million in damage.
Prosecutors described Rittenhouse, now 18, as an inexperienced “wannabe soldier” drawn to chaos, while defense attorneys countered that the onetime YMCA lifeguard feared for his life and was forced to kill or be killed.
During closing arguments, attorney Mark Richards said the case against his client was “political” and that Rittenhouse was singled out and used as a scapegoat for the unrest in Kenosha last summer.
“The district attorney’s office is marching forward because they need somebody to be responsible,” he said. “They need someone to say, ‘He did it. He is the one who brought terror to Kenosha.'”
He also accused Assistant District Attorney Thomas Binger of being a “liar” who had a “personal goal of putting my client’s head on his wall.”
As the jury deliberated, dozens of protesters, some in favor of Rittenhouse and others against, stood outside the Kenosha County courthouse.
One woman was heard by local media repeatedly calling Rittenhouse supporters “white supremacists.”
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A group of faith leaders from across Kenosha gathered for a short walk away from the courthouse to pray for healing and closure.
“Our struggle is how to bring about justice in this community while maintaining peace,” said Rabbi Dena Feingold of Beth Hillel Temple in Kenosha.
