Monday morning, Kyle Rittenhouse’s homicide trial in Kenosha moves into its second week. Rittenhouse faces charges of homicide and other felonies after fatally shooting two men and wounding a third man last year, during unrest in Kenosha after police shot and severely injured a Black man, Jacob Blake, Jr.
On Monday morning, key prosecution witness, Gaige Grosskreutz took the stand. Grosskreutz, from West Allis, was wounded by Rittenhouse shortly after the defendant killed Joseph Rosenbaum and Anthony Huber on Aug. 25, 2020.
University of Wisconsin Law Professor Ion Meyn said Grosskreutz's testimony could be about his perceptions after Rosenbaum was shot.
"You have a very quickly escalating set of events, where it's quite possible that it's reasonable from Mr. Grosskreutz's view to be feeling threatened because there is someone running toward him with an AR-15, as people just saying, 'He just shot someone!’" Meyn said.
Defense lawyers, as part of Rittenhouse's claim of self-defense for shooting the three men, have already highlighted that Grosskreutz had a handgun with him.
By midweek, the prosecution may rest, and the defense team may start to present more of its case. Wisconsin criminal defense lawyer Jessa Nicholson Goetz said to look for an effort to put jurors mentally into the scene. For example, of when the attorneys say others were attacking Rittenhouse.
"I think the defense is going to do a lot of work to try and put me as a viewer, and these people as jurors, into that fear and that moment as to what he [Rittenhouse] was experiencing. I certainly think my mind could be changed with compelling evidence," Goetz said.
It's unclear if the Rittenhouse’s homicide trial will wrap up this week.
