Jury begins deliberations at Kyle Rittenhouse murder trial
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KENOSHA, Wis. (AP) – The jury has begun deliberating at Kyle Rittenhouse’s murder trial after two weeks of testimony in which they were given starkly different portrayals of his actions the night he shot three men on the streets of Kenosha.
Prosecutors say Rittenhouse was a “wannabe soldier” who provoked a confrontation, while the defense says he feared for his life and acted in self-defense after being ambushed by a “crazy person.”
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Eighteen jurors have been hearing the case; the 12 who will decide Rittenhouse’s fate and the six who were designated alternates were determined by a drawing from a raffle drum. The judge had Rittenhouse draw slips from a raffle drum at his own trial to select alternate jurors who will be dismissed before deliberations.
On Monday, Judge Bruce Schroeder dismissed a count of possession of a dangerous weapon by a person under 18.
Defendant Kyle Rittenhouse listens to closing arguments in his trial on Monday.[Courtroom Pool Camera]
Rittenhouse, then 17, shot two men to death and wounded a third during a tumultuous night of protests against racial injustice in the summer of 2020. He faces life in prison if convicted as charged for using a AR-style semi-automatic rifle to kill two men and wound a third during a night of protests against racial injustice in Kenosha in the summer of 2020. He is white, as were those he shot.