Prosecutorial misconduct led the defense attorneys for Kyle Rittenhouse to call on the judge to declare a mistrial in what the judge called the prosecution’s “day of reckoning.”
The move is the third such request for a mistrial that defense attorneys have asked for on behalf of the 18-year-old, who could go to prison for the rest of his life for the killings of two men and the wounding of a third during the third night of riots in Kenosha, Wisc., on Aug. 25, 2020.
The judge has, over the two-week-long trial, said that prosecutors acted in bad faith multiple times and “may have stepped” over the line several times on evidence and constitutional missteps. At the last minute, the prosecutors let a video recording into evidence, but they lied about its provenance, lied about its resolution, and then, in a coup de grace, lied about its length.
That the case hasn’t been declared a mistrial up to this point is a wonder. At every turn, Judge Bruce Schroeder decided that jurors should see more information, which is why defense objections of the surprise video went unsustained.
Defense attorney Corey Chirafisi asked for the mistrial without prejudice before the jury comes back with a decision, which means he could be retried, but they also have another request with prejudice, which would foreclose any further adjudication.
PJ Media’s Megan Fox reported on the back story of the video.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member