Kyle Rittenhouse’s attorney, Mark Richards, wants a judge to allow him to argue that one of the men his client fatally shot during a Wisconsin protest was a sex offender, saying it supports a defense theory that he attacked Rittenhouse and intended to take his gun because he could not legally possess one.
Richards said in court filings on Thursday last week that Joseph Rosenbaum was convicted of having sex with a minor in Arizona in 2002 and was prohibited from possessing firearms.
Rosenbaum started the altercation with Rittenhouse in the hopes of taking his rifle, which only bolsters Rittenhouse’s self-defense argument, Richards wrote.
Huber and Grosskreutz were part of a “mob” that was chasing Rittenhouse, he wrote.
Huber hit Rittenhouse with a skateboard and tried to grab his gun, and Grosskreutz pointed a pistol at him, Richards wrote.
Kimberley Motley, an attorney representing Rosenbaum’s estate, rejected Richards’ theory, but declined to comment further as the case remains open.
“We believe strongly that Mr Rittenhouse was the aggressor and his actions were not lawful,” she said in a telephone interview on Tuesday.
Richards also filed a motion to dismiss a charge that Rittenhouse could not possess a gun because he was too young under Wisconsin law, saying that statutes prohibit minors from possessing short-barreled shotguns and rifles, and Rittenhouse’s rifle does not meet that definition.
Rittenhouse traveled to Kenosha, Wisconsin, from his home in Antioch, Illinois, on Aug. 25 last year to answer a call from local militia to protect businesses from protesters. The demonstrations began after a Kenosha police officer shot Jacob Blake during a domestic disturbance, leaving Blake paralyzed from the waist down.
The protests turned chaotic that night.
Prosecutors say that Rittenhouse opened fire on Rosenbaum, Anthony Huber and Gaige Grosskreutz. He killed Rosenbaum and Huber. Grosskreutz was hit, but survived.
Rittenhouse was 17 years old at the time. Now 18, he maintains he fired in self-defense, but prosecutors have charged him with a litany of counts, including reckless homicide, recklessly endangering safety, attempted first-degree intentional homicide and being a minor in possession of a dangerous weapon.
His trial is scheduled to begin on Nov. 1.
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