JUSTICE DONE FOR KYLE RITTENHOUSE



Justice was done in Kenosha, Wisconsin on November 19, 2021. As a criminal defense attorney, I could not see any valid reason to prosecute Kyle Rittenhouse. He had a gun he was legally entitled to carry. He had a right to be where he was when he was attacked. He was not the one making threats. He was actually helping put out fires before he was attacked.

One white guy was attacked by three other white guys, all strangers to him. One chased him and threatened to kill him. One hit him on the head and knocked him down with a skateboard. The other pointed a loaded gun to his head.
Three men were in Kenosha to do evil. One man in Kenosha was there to help keep it from burning to the ground.
It was the prosecution’s burden to prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, that Rittenhouse did NOT act in self-defense.
It was the prosecution’s burden to prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, that Kyle Rittenhouse had NO reason to fear any one of these men could cause him great bodily harm.
This they could not do.
There was a lot of pressure on the jurors to convict, regardless of the facts. The media demanded a conviction. Our President and Vice President demanded a conviction. Anti-gun advocates demanded a conviction.
Whatever happened to the anti-bullying movement? Clearly, Kyle Rittenhouse was bullied and threatened with death and/or great bodily harm.
I was just pleased that the right of self-defense was preserved today.
There are a couple of problems people in Kyle’s position face. One, prosecutors invariably charge the winner of a fight when the loser bleeds, ignoring self-defense. Two, if you use a gun to defend yourself, even to scare your aggressor, you are going to make the other guy mad enough that he or his tribe will demand you be charged with a felony. One Idaho county that I know of will bring charges against you if you defend yourself with a gun, and force you to gamble your fate with a jury. Use a gun, and they make you prove your innocence.
I have seen this happen to numerous clients who have been charged with brandishing a weapon, aggravated battery, aggravated assault, and even murder when they were in fact defending themselves. Just because one man loses such an encounter, that does not mean the winner needs to be punished at all.
One final wrench that gets thrown into criminal trials: media coverage. “When it bleeds, it leads,” goes one cliche about which stories get the most media coverage. Some prosecutors get pushed into prosecuting cases all the way to trial merely because there is so much media coverage they feel the public demands it, even if justice demands they drop charges.
What we all need to remember is that each case must be decided upon its own facts. Every person has the right to travel where he or she desires in public. No one has to run away if attacked. And if someone gets hurt or even dies in a fight, you the juror must presume that the other person in the fight acted 100% lawfully. You will hear all kinds of evidence over a week or two, but these cases come down to only one question: Can the state prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the defendant had NO reason to believe the defendant was going to try to inflict great bodily harm or death? If they can’t do this, the defendant must be acquitted. That is the only fair result.

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