Nov 15, 2021

Kyle Rittenhouse Trial Defense Closing Statement Transcript

Kyle Rittenhouse Trial Defense Closing Statement Transcript
RevBlogTranscriptsKyle Rittenhouse Trial Defense Closing Statement Transcript

The defense in Kyle Rittenhouse’s homicide trial presented its closing statement on November 15, 2021. Rittenhouse shot and killed two men amid the unrest in Kenosha, WI last year following the police shooting of Jacob Blake. Read the transcript of the defense closing argument here.

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Mark Richards: (00:00)
If it please the court, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, good afternoon.

Mark Richards: (00:09)
Showing you a snippet of State’s Exhibit 18, which Mr. Binger just spent three or four minutes showing that Mr. Rosenbaum wasn’t around. My client couldn’t know that he wraps his head in an orange, chain bag orange. Ladies and gentlemen, we had this video almost as long as they’ve had this video, but Mr. Binger will use this video to lie to your faces and tell you that Kyle Rittenhouse was taking advantage of the situation.

Speaker 1: (00:43)
I object, your honor.

Mark Richards: (00:44)
It’s in the picture.

Speaker 2: (00:46)
It’s argument.

Mark Richards: (00:49)
Ladies and gentlemen, this case is not a game. It is my client’s life. We don’t play fast and loose with the facts, pretending that Mr. Rosenbaum was citizen A, number one guy. He was a bad man. He was there. He was causing trouble. He was a rioter and my client had to deal with him that night alone.

Mark Richards: (01:20)
When I say that the truth matters, and this is not a game, what do I mean by that? Mr. Binger is the one who put on the Canary Brothers. The reason he put them on in spite of what he might say today is because he wanted you, now 18, soon to be 12 people to say, “Gosh, that kid just went to that place and just protected it. He wasn’t asked.” He was asked. Mr. [inaudible 00:01:50] asked Nick, Nick got a group of people to go down there. The people from West Bend came.

Mark Richards: (01:56)
Provocation. Another thing. Think back to back on November 2nd when this case started, did you hear one word out of Mr. Binger’s mouth about provocation? You didn’t because it was never said, but when his case explodes in his face, now he comes out with provocation. That was opening. And most importantly in opening, quoting from Mr. Binger’s first paragraph of his opening statement on November 2nd, 2021. This occurred after the defendant chased down Mr. Rosenbaum and confronted him while yielding an AR-14.

Mark Richards: (02:49)
Ladies and gentlemen, you’ve seen the videos. Mr. Rosenbaum sees, and I’ll show you the video in my closing argument. You’ll see Mr. Rosenbaum take off when he sees my client coming along with the [Ziminsky 00:03:04] to set up the ambush of my client. Provocation, I don’t think so. The things that I’ve just pointed out to you, why is that a problem? Because one, he’s lying. Two, he’s misrepresenting, or he wasn’t prepared when he started this trial and his closing argument has been a change to try and fit what has come out. Remember how, when he was talking, there’s no proof that the Rosenbaum and Ziminsky knew each of other. Maybe they didn’t know each other that night, but they were together throughout the night. You see them together in pictures, wreaking havoc in this city.

Mark Richards: (03:50)
And now we have the magic pixel camera that brings forth his provocation. I’m going to go through the charges and we’ll talk about each one of them. Then I’ll go through the witnesses and hopefully I’ll bring it home in an honest and forthright fashion.

Mark Richards: (04:13)
Count one. Reckless homicide. My client shot Joseph Rosenbaum. Ladies and gentlemen, make no mistake. There was nothing reckless about my client’s conduct that day in regards to Mr. Rosenbaum. Mr. Rosenbaum was coming at him. My client ran from him, retreated, which is not needed. Continues to run. The plastic bag is thrown. The metallic plastic bag. Kyle doesn’t know what it is at that time. It causes him to turn and look over his shoulder, pointing the gun in that direction. Mr. Rosenbaum, is he dissuaded by that? No, he is not. He continues running and advancing on my client. That whole time, the state doesn’t say anything about Mr. Ziminsky firing the shot. Mr. Ziminsky having his gun out. Think of the circumstances as they existed at 11:50 on August 25th, 2020.

Mark Richards: (05:27)
He runs through that parking lot. He continues running on. He turns as he comes into that box canyon with the cars, the van, and I believe it’s a Pepsi machine and he turns because he has no place else to go. I’ll show you the [inaudible 00:05:45] video later on. What’s important about the [inaudible 00:05:50] video. You see that mob of people destroying the cars at car source three, which Mr. Binger doesn’t want my client to go and try to protect even though he was asked by those individuals to protect that property. Nick Smith called him, “Hey, they’re bashing up the cars and starting fires, go down there.”

Mark Richards: (06:08)
He goes down there. He has as much right to go there as anybody else in the city of Kenosha and be unmolested by the likes of Joseph Rosenbaum, Kelly, and Joshua Ziminsky. And Mr. Binger says, oh, we’ll get the Ziminsky’s later. Well, ladies and gentlemen, last time I checked, this is still United States of America. And he has the burden of proof. If he wants you guys to believe that my client pointed a gun at him, call the Ziminskys. Put him on the witness stand, ask him questions and let me or Mr. [inaudible 00:06:52] cross examine him. That’s how we do things in a court of law, but not in Mr. Bringer court. He says, I’m blaming the victim. As a defense lawyer, I might get accused of that more than some other people. Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Rosenbaum was shot because he was chasing my client and going to kill him, take his gun, and carry out the threats he made. And Mr. Binger wants to make a big habaloo about the shot in the back. Remember his opening statement. He shot him in the back and that’s why I’m sitting here in front of the jury like this. Did he shoot him here? Did he shoot him there? Because of the way the bullet went in and where the bullet ended up in the hip. You know full well that the individual and I asked the doctor is on a horizontal plane. What is that horizontal plane consistent of? Somebody leaping, lunging at my client.

Mark Richards: (07:56)
And we know how close Mr. Rosenbaum was to my client. The furthest he could have been when it started, the first shot, four feet with the stipend. We know that his hand was on the gun. Mr. Binger wants you to believe that that was just happenstance and accident. Come on, people. Physical evidence does not lie. Use your common sense and good judgment.

Mark Richards: (08:26)
He talks about Mr. Rosenbaum, just somehow ending up down at the riots. Remember that? Mr. Rosenbaum according to the testimony walked from the bus center, four miles out to Miss Fort’s house. And then he couldn’t stay there for some reason and four miles all the way back. That’s not just ending up. That’s going someplace with a purpose. And throughout the night you saw his purpose. And there was more than one piece of testimony about Mr. Rosenbaum, whether it was a hospital or whether or not it [inaudible 00:09:14]. Remember that? And there was testimony regarding his medication. Ms. Schwartz said we couldn’t get medication because the Walgreens were all boarded up. She said the hospital said they gave him his medication. So whatever facility gave him his medication. Mr. Binger, the man with the burden of proof, why didn’t he bring in a hospital or a jail to prove that Mr. Rosenbaum was properly medicated? He’d been off his medications, according to Ms. Schwartz for seven to 10 days. We know that he was acting like somebody who wasn’t on their proper medication. He was not acting normal.

Mark Richards: (10:17)
Next, Richie Richard McGinness, reckless, and here, Mr. McGinness, I’d like to talk about because the self defense does not go to Mr. McGinness. But if Kyle was privileged in exercising self defense against Mr. Rosenbaum, it carries over to the endangering count of Mr. McGinness. And Mr. McGinness specifically, if the defendant and I’m reading directly from an instruction page nine, second full paragraph, which you will be given. If the defendant was acting lawfully in self defense, his conduct did not create an unreasonable risk to another.

Mark Richards: (11:13)
That is Mr. McGinness. Ladies and gentlemen, when my client shot Joseph Rosenbaum, he feared for his life. He feared because of the prior threats to prior statements and the violent acts that had been witnessed by my client. Mr. McGinness, as a witness, I think he helped us more than he hurt us. He talked about, and this was on cross from Mr B. How do you know what Mr. Rosenbaum was thinking? Because I don’t, but I know he yelled fuck you. And then lunged at Kyle Rittenhouse. Why is he yelling the F you? One of two things, one to intimidate. Or two, he got into a situation over his head thinking, as he said before chasing him, you won’t do M-Fer to my client. Well, he was wrong.

Mark Richards: (12:16)
He states, Kyle did not know Richard that he was there. Meaning Richard McGinness. He’s a citizen journalist who was running along with his phone in his hand up in the air in to get a story. My client is not responsible for endangering him when he runs into danger. Plus, the instruction says that if he was privileged as to Rosenbaum, he’s privileged as to count two, Mr. McGinness.

Mark Richards: (12:49)
Count three, Jump Kick Man, the uncomplaining unidentified witness in count three. There’ll be some video later on when I’m going through some of that, you’ll see. And I ask you to pay attention. The state has said, he’s not kicking him. He doesn’t hit him. When you watch the video and it’ll be in slow motion. Watch where his foot goes. Watch what happens to Kyle’s head. The force of him kicking him in the face spins his body 180 degrees around. And then it’s on. Huber coming in from behind hitting him in the neck with the skateboard.

Mark Richards: (13:43)
Ladies and gentlemen, what you see throughout event number two and this is the beginning of it is individuals working in a mob. The, they don’t know what happened at car source three, event number one, but somebody said, hey, he shot somebody. Doesn’t know that he was being chased by a crazy person, but they’re going to get their licks in on Kyle Rittenhouse. Or as they perceive him, somebody from the other side who has been putting out their fires, causing problems for them. Stopping them from wreaking havoc in Kenosha like they did the night before.

Mark Richards: (14:37)
And ladies and gentlemen, the standard is likely to cause death or great bodily harm. Great bodily harm is defined as likely to cause serious bodily injury. A kick to the head is likely to cause a serious injury. Did my client suffer a debilitating injury as a result of that? No, but that’s not the standard.

Mark Richards: (15:04)
Mr. Huber, he’s a rider. Pushing a dumpster lit on fire, going to the barricades to pick up pepper balls, throw them back, pointing his middle finger at the police. He’s assisting Rosenbaum at the gas station. Hits Rittenhouse two times with the skateboard and attempts to disarm him. You’ll see it all in the slow motion video later are on. And Kyle Rittenhouse is running away from Anthony Huber. The state wants to call my client an active shooter. And the reason they want to do that is because of the loaded connotations of that work.

Mark Richards: (15:52)
Everyone has heard of the theater killings, the school shootings and things like that. Ask yourself the definition of an active shooter is somebody with a plan to inflict multiple casualties, usually out of anger or animus towards a group. This case, what caused Kyle Rittenhouse to shoot somebody? Joseph Rosenbaum. He runs after shooting Joseph Rosenbaum for almost two blocks before scene number two. Mr. Binger makes a big thing about Kyle Rittenhouse, not staying around, car source three, after the shooting. Ladies and gentlemen, if Kyle Rittenhouse had stayed at car source three, all that would’ve happened is it would’ve made the police have an easier job because scene one and scene two would’ve been put in the location. My client ran two blocks without shooting at anyone, pointing at anyone, doing anything to try and get away.

Mark Richards: (17:04)
He tells the individuals he’s going to the police and he’s running in that direction when he’s stopped. He’s hit the head with a hand with rocking it, knocking his hat off. Mr. Binger says, oh, he just knocked his hat off. I don’t think that individual was trying to steal Mr. Rittenhouse’s hat. He was trying to take his head off. Who comes in next? Anthony Huber for the first time. Hits him.

Mark Richards: (17:36)
Opening statement, Mr. Binger was, he takes a swing at him. Now it’s he blocked because we took the video tape and lightened it up. Huber strikes him in the head and arm the first time. Jump kick man comes in, kicks him in the face, spins his body 180 degrees. And Anthony Huber comes in for the second lick to the shoulder, neck area, trying to take his head off. And when he does that, his other hand goes grabbing for the gun, his bare hand onto the gun and pulling it away from Kyle Rittenhouse. Mr. Binger wants Kyle to sit there and hope and pray to God his strap works and Anthony Huber can’t get the gun. We don’t know that. We’ll never know that as he’s running away from him, a shot as the gun is being separated from his body. And you’ll see the butt way far away when the shot is finally fired.

Mark Richards: (18:41)
Even Gaige Grosskreetz said he was concerned about the blows that Jump Kick Man and Anthony Huber were inflicting on Kyle’s head. That’s probably the only thing I agree with, with Mr. Grosskreetzs. With Gaige Grosskreetz, the state must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that what Kyle did under those facts and circumstances was unreasonable, that he was not entitled to self defense. Consider all the events that had occurred that evening, him being attacked, kicked in the head, hit in the head with a skateboard, other individuals running up on him. And now Mr. Grosskreetz runs up on him. And the first action of Mr. Grosskreetz and I’ll go through the video later is really he’s running in. The hand is coming up and the gunshot with Huber goes off and the natural reaction is the flinch. He covers up. And then he pulls his hands up.

Mark Richards: (19:47)
And is he standing with his hands up, look, he’s not gripping the gun anymore in a pistol grip. Hands apart, hands up. And as he comes in to finish the job, the hand is on the gun going for Mr. Rittenhouse. And he says, it’s an involuntary movement. The shot comes before it gets directly to his head, but that motion is coming the shot. And it continues on with that momentum, enough momentum to go through the bullet and point directly at Kyle’s head. Does Kyle fire again? No, he doesn’t.

Mark Richards: (20:29)
Actions likely to cause death or great bodily. And he is coming in with a loaded Glock. And we asked Mr. Gaige Grosskreetz about it. He wouldn’t even admit that there was one in the chamber. That’s why we had to put on the officer to talk about the unfired shell casing. McKowski talked about clearing the weapon and a live round coming out because Grosskreetz won’t say anything that puts him in a bad light. Grosskreetz, the person who has 10 million reasons to lie. And we all know he did lie because he never gave a new interview, after giving his statement, saying he dropped his gun going down the street.

Mark Richards: (21:18)
Ladies and gentlemen, those are the charges. Those are a synopsis of the charges. As I stated, the burden is on the state and they must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that my client did not have the right to self defense. Kyle, as he sits here is presumed innocent of all charges. If there is any reasonable hypothesis to reconcile with Kyle’s innocence, that is what you are to choose.

Mark Richards: (21:51)
Remember when looking at the burden of proof, they have it. Think about some of the things, the shotty investigation, the rush to judgment from the Kenosha district attorney’s office. The Ziminsky’s not being called as witnesses. They have the burden of proof. We don’t. They want it to be that Kyle was out there doing something improper. Kyle was a 17 year old kid out there trying to help this community. He was asked to provide help in protecting property at the car sources. It started and he did it. He did provide aid and he was asking if anybody needed aid. Whether somebody chooses to accept that aid, that’s on them. But Mr. Binger wants to poo-poo his sincere belief that he’s helping people because he borrowed bandages from Dominic Black. And I think he might have borrowed something from McKowski also, but in the picture, when the Canary poses with all the people that are going to protect his property, there’s Kyle’s big orange Gator box. He’s got his pack on, filled with things and he’s willing to do that.

Mark Richards: (23:27)
Ladies and gentlemen, Kyle was not an active shooter. That is a buzzword that the state wants to lash onto because it excuses the actions of that mob on the 25th of 2020. Whenever Kyle was there, he reacted to people attacking him. There’s numerous times and you’ll see him on the video. He does not shoot. He runs two blocks from 63rd to 61st scene two without firing his weapon. Individual hits him in the back of the head. He does not turn around to address that threat. Huber takes a swing at him with the skateboard like that. Kyle blocks and the skateboard’s knocked out of his hand. He doesn’t turn around and shoot him. He keeps running and falls from the two hits. He’s run that far. And yet somehow he fell over on his own.

Mark Richards: (24:27)
As soon as he is on the ground, they’re there attacking him. And you see the people. The law is self defense. You’ve seen it. You’ve heard it. Now, I’m going to go through the witnesses.

Mark Richards: (24:47)
Oh, Dominic Black first witness. Charged by Mr. Binger for providing the gun to my client. Two counts looking at up to six years in prison. His case has been adjourned so that he can help the state. I don’t think he helped the state that much. I think he was a pretty truthful witness. All in all. He told them about Kyle there to help people, that they had permission from the [inaudible 00:25:17]. That he saw Kyle help the woman with the foot. Help the person with the hand. Mr. Binger wants to just say, oh, that doesn’t matter. If it wasn’t Kyle, it would’ve been somebody else.

Mark Richards: (25:29)
The point is he was there and he did it. There was no pointing by Kyle of any laser sights. There was no ability for Kyle or him to point laser sights at anyone because their guns didn’t have the type of optics that did that. He said Kyle was there to help. The only person helping was Kyle. And he can say what he wants about whether or not he let Kyle take the gun or not take the gun. He never told him not to. He went to the location with them. They bought straps at [inaudible 00:26:12] together. He’s trying to cover his butt a little bit. The guns were there and they took them. They took the guns as he said to deter people attacking them. He saw Kyle at the end, sweating, was in shock and said that he shot someone. He had to do it. That is Dominic Black.

Mark Richards: (26:43)
Corey Washington saw the riots breaking up concrete at the church parking lot, described Rosenbaum as erratic. Stated the crowd was suspicious. I don’t know what that means. One of the things that I thought was strange was the night before they were burning garbage trucks, but they only burnt the old ones. I think that tells you something about his point of view, that there’s a certain amount of property damage that is justified and okay. Kenosha was using those garbage trucks that the riots lit on fire and nothing regarding property destruction was going to do anything to help Jacob Blake. We also learned that Kyle Rittenhouse smokes cigarettes and that he has an affinity for the dinosaur museum.

Mark Richards: (27:43)
Detective Howard, ladies and gentlemen, Detective Howard’s testimony and Detective [inaudible 00:27:50] testimony is the stuff of what reasonable doubt is made of. Two detectives, both lead officers on this case, they’ve sat through every minute of this trial and their opinions of the actions of Mr. Rosenbaum from testimony, videos, couldn’t be more diametrically opposed. Detective Howard on cross examination knew that the guy was hiding in the car and jumped out from behind the car and began chasing Kyle Rittenhouse. Oh boy, that’s not good for the state’s case. So there’s the old chit chat between Mr. Howard and Mr. [inaudible 00:28:35] and the prosecutors after. And all of a sudden we’ve come up with the new theory and you heard the new theory that he raised the gun and that’s what’s on the video. Could I have a firearm please?

Mark Richards: (29:06)
[inaudible 00:29:06] checked it.

Speaker 3: (29:07)
[inaudible 00:29:07] checked it?

Mark Richards: (29:08)
He told me he check it.

Speaker 3: (29:09)
Okay. When? After lunch?

Speaker 4: (29:13)
Before lunch.

Speaker 3: (29:14)
Check it again.

Mark Richards: (29:14)
Thank you.

Mark Richards: (29:34)
Think about when Kyle Rittenhouse is firing the gun. When he’s seen holding the gun throughout the events of the 25th. Shouldering the gun and I’m not going to bring it all the way up to my shoulder to the right, right shoulder, which would be a stance like this. The reason I objected in his closing argument is because that not the way he was standing. If he’s standing like this, this is right handed, pointing the gun this way up at the ready. His back would be to the drone footage. In the drone footage, you see the arm. It would be somebody having to hold the gun lefthanded. This is a right handed firearm. If this gun is brought up to his face and it is pulled back, the shell casing hot and the fire that ejects it is going to be going right into Kyle’s face.

Mark Richards: (30:40)
The photograph I’ll talk about later, you don’t see the straps on his shirt. It didn’t happen the way he said. It doesn’t happen the way in the photograph. I’m going to need this again [inaudible 00:30:58]. Burden of proof, once again. The telephones, the searching of telephones with search warrants, the subpoenaing of records. I have no problem with that. It’s good police work. When you pick and choose and you make favorites, it’s not. My client testified. And I’ll say it this way. The detective testified that my client’s phone was sent to the FBI. It was unsearchable because of the operating system. The FBI and the federal government had not cracked it yet. We found out about that. We had nothing to hide. Here. Here’s the numbers. Search the phone as long as we’re given a simultaneous copy, so we have what you have. We can have our experts look at it. They can have their experts look at it. So we know that there isn’t any-

Mark Richards: (32:03)
… look at it. They can have their experts look at it, so we know that there isn’t anything added or deleted. We did that. We gave that to the state. If we had something to hide, they never would’ve gotten in that phone. They took the phone. They made a copy. They searched it. Low and behold, nothing of an incriminating nature in it, nothing militia, white supremacist, any of that.

Mark Richards: (32:26)
Gaige Grosskreutz, different story. They had a valid search warrant for it, the only search warrant that these guys have never not executed when it’s sitting right in front of them. Not just that, but Mr. Grosskreutz could’ve consented to them going in the phone. If he has nothing to hide, why not? Why not let them look in the phone. Let’s take kind common sense and judgment one step further. Police officers get search warrants. They execute the search warrant. Sometimes somebody feels as though their rights have been violated, and it gets litigated in a court of law. If it was illegal, the information in that search warrant never comes out in court. If it’s legal after a judge has said there were no rights violated, it comes in in evidence. What was Mr. Grosskreutz afraid of? Why wouldn’t the state execute the search warrant, let Mr. Grosskreutz and his attorney object, file a motion, and say you can’t go in my phone? Let the judge decide, not the person who’s prosecuting and protecting Mr. Grosskreutz. Come on, people. Mr. Grosskreutz has 10 million reasons for not wanting somebody to go on his phone.

Mark Richards: (34:09)
The timing with the detectives and some of their actions I think are very important. They get down to Antioch at about 3:30 in the morning of the 26th, less than four hours after this happens. By 6:00, 6: 30, give them the benefit of the doubt, Kyle Rittenhouse is under arrest for first degree murder. There’s not been any autopsy done. There haven’t been any witness statements taken. They’ve got two or three videos. The bullets … I should say it this way. All of the bullets have not even been picked up from Car Source at this point, but they’re willing to make a decision, and were they under pressure? I’m sure they were. They’re afraid that there’s going to be another night of looting, destruction in Kenosha because of this happening, and the way the word got out.

Mark Richards: (35:15)
He traveled across state lines. He was here. He brought his AR with him. The AR was here. He was a white supremacist looking for trouble. Nothing, nothing. That’s why, ladies and gentlemen, when we picked you guys as jurors, we asked you if you could decide based upon the evidence that happens in the courtroom, not what you’d heard before, not all of the lies and untruths that have been put out in the media. I heard one guy say my client discharged the gun 60 times. Ladies and gentlemen, what’s happening in court is what you decide the truth on. He was charged on the 27th. Still, they didn’t have the information, the autopsies final, anything like that. Ladies and gentlemen, this has been a rush to judgment.

Mark Richards: (36:16)
Richie McGinniss I talked about earlier, citizens, citizen journalists. Mr. Binger talked about him seeing guns, but remember the cross of Mr. McGinniss? Guns are not legal in Portland, Washington, or D.C., or New York. They’re not allowed on the streets. You can be arrested. There are state laws, and ladies and gentlemen, the gun in this case is no longer an issue. Whether or not it was a dangerous weapon as it applies to the charges is, but my client is no longer charged with minor in possession of a firearm, but he needs his AR-15, and the assault weapon, and the fear that goes with that to try and bring home an unjust guilty verdict.

Mark Richards: (37:11)
Ryan Balch. Ryan Balch had never met Kyle Rittenhouse before the evening hours of the 25th, has never spoken to him or known him after, and yet the state wants you to believe he made up something about a threat to kill. Why? What’s in it for him? The threat, if I get either of you alone, I will kill you. That is a threat with a statement and a promise, and low and behold, the chance presented itself to Mr. Rosenbaum, and he attempted to execute it. I don’t for a minute believe that he would’ve done it if it was Mr. Balch, who’s much bigger than my client, muscular, well-built, and much more assertive and forceful.

Mark Richards: (38:15)
Rosenbaum, like any, as he referred to him, I don’t even know what he called him, a ragdoll, whatever, but the little guy who gets beat up likes to go after the next littlest guy. He saw Kyle alone, and that’s what he chose to, or he could have been mistaken and thinking it was the other person at the Ultimate that he went after and had to be held back. They were dressed very similarly, baseball caps, mask, and the only difference was the difference between shorts and long pants. I can’t answer that. Mr. Rosenbaum at this point, I guess, can’t either. But you see Mr. Rosenbaum right around the time in question, at that location, menacing with his chain.

Mark Richards: (39:05)
I’m going to finally get this right. I skipped … That’s Mr. Balch. I talked about him going on. Miss Amber Rasmussen. She was the DNA expert. What I say to you is DNA is an incredibly useful tool, but DNA is only as useful as what you put into it, and if DNA shows anything, it shows that it’s not proof positive in this case. We know in hearing from Dr. Kelley that he most probably touched the gun. It was a contact wound, is the way he described it, and we know through the videos Huber touched the gun with his bare hand, and yet, no DNA was found on that gun, so don’t let your eyes deceive you. Don’t let the physical evidence be discounted because of what she said. The end of that barrel was not swabbed.

Mark Richards: (40:19)
We know he had to be at the end of the barrel, or it would’ve had the soot on all of the fingers. Jason Lackowski, thought was an interesting witness. He was the Marine who put the phrase, “Shout, shove, show, shoot,” and I asked him about that, and I don’t for a minute disbelieve that that’s the Marine’s rule. Is there any retreat in there? He said, “No.” He looked at me like I was stupid. The reason he looked like that was because they don’t retreat. Yet, Kyle Rittenhouse did retreat. He tried getting away from Mr. Rosenbaum. He described Joseph Rosenbaum as belligerent with malintent, used the N-word, did the false step thing. Did not see Kyle as aggressive. He was there for a shorter period of time than anyone else at Car Source. He also cleared Gaige Grosskreutz’s gun after the shooting and made it safe, took the shell out of it.

Mark Richards: (41:33)
I ask you to think back to the direct examination of Mr. Lackowski by the state, when they asked him what did Kyle say to you, his first statement was, “I just shot somebody. I need help.” That’s what he testified to, and then Mr. Binger shows him the statement and gets him to say, “Well, I told the FBI that.” Ladies and gentlemen, I don’t know what he told the FBI. The FBI doesn’t let him see that statement, doesn’t let him read the statement and say, “You’ve read this to me. It’s true and a correct copy.” They write down what they think they heard. I ask you to think about what he said. If he didn’t shoot somebody, why does he need help? That makes no sense. He said it. He testified to it. That’s what happened.

Mark Richards: (42:27)
The state confronted him and pushes him back to his original statement so he doesn’t get in trouble. He put the tourniquet on Gaige Grosskreutz. He testified that he had his AR-15 with him, providing medical services, first aid, just like Kyle Rittenhouse. I find it so ironic that he was there. Gaige Grosskreutz had said to them, ” Go home. We have our own medics, you stooges,” and who ultimately helps him with his tourniquet?

Mark Richards: (43:10)
Sarah Hughes, her testimony, she reminded Mr. Huber and his girlfriend they needed to be home by curfew. Obviously, not advice that was followed. Wish it had been. Kariann Swart, I talked about. She talked about Joseph Rosenbaum being bipolar, being prescribed gabapentin. He had to leave her house that night after walking four miles, taking about an hour, and then walking another four miles back to downtown where the riots were going on, where he could involve himself fully. Her story contradicts Nathan DeBruin when he said, “I just got out of jail, and I’m not afraid to go back.” He’d been off his meds for the week prior. The videos of Joseph Rosenbaum show the state that he was in. No proof that he ever took his meds.

Mark Richards: (44:20)
Sahul Sal Khindri, he was the first of the Khindri brothers to testify Car Source. He’s in the picture with all the people who protected his property. He’s there, and he said he just liked the military garb. Why did he get a picture then with just one of them? How did he wrangle all these people up? Everybody in that picture said that they wanted him there, they gave him permission. Even Dominick Black concurred in that, the state’s witness. But as I said earlier, they want these two guys to dirty Kyle up. He’s just picking a spot to pick trouble, and to be there and cause problems. He was asked to provide security. He did. They deny that they were going to pay any money, yet Nick Smith says they were, and going to pay money to Nick Smith.

Mark Richards: (45:19)
Ladies and gentlemen, do you get the feeling that they’re a little afraid of being sued, as everybody else in this case is? I think so. When they were up there, I don’t remember them saying, “Oh, you can protect Car Source Two or Car Doctor, but don’t go to Car Three.” They had somebody arranged to protect Car Three, Car Source Three, and the word came in that they had left. Dominick, Balch, JoAnn Fiedler, all of them say they had permission. Why would they lie about that? How does that protect them? They’re not charged with anything. Who’s the people who are lying here? Sal and Sam.

Mark Richards: (46:09)
Next, Police Officer Weidner. He was the ET. He went and recovered some of the .223 rounds from Car Source. I believe he found three of them. The other two were found three days later. He photographed the mask. He didn’t find the bag, and we do not concede that there was nothing in that bag. Not for a minute. They have the burden of proof. They have the burden to preserve a crime scene appropriately, get the evidence, and show it to you. Ryan Balch said he smelled ammonia and bleach. They didn’t find the fire extinguisher. We know that the fire extinguisher was there. It’s in the videos, but that doesn’t fit in the state’s narrative of Kyle actually going there to put out a fire, which had been started earlier in the DuraMax.

Mark Richards: (47:09)
Officer Vanwie recovered the last two shell casings. Strike that. I love technology. Officer Vanwie. Officer Moretti, he was the driver of the squad car that Kyle tried to surrender himself to. He said it was a war zone. It was a war zone those three nights. He described it as the city on fire. The police felt as though they were completely surrounded, described the constant gunfire that evening. Mr. Binger wants to slough it off as fireworks this, it really wasn’t that bad that night. Ladies and gentlemen, it was hell in this area downtown. There were violent people causing trouble, and the state wants us to believe it was okay. The police pushed them back. Now they could leave. Car Source was safe, and I can’t remember specifically what witness it was, but it stuck out in my mind. The witness said the police pushed him back, let him back, pushed him back, let him back. A lot of the burning happened late at night, that witness said.

Mark Richards: (48:32)
Gaige Grosskreutz, 10 million reasons to change his statement. His attorney is sitting in the courtroom, has been sitting in the courtroom when he testified. If he’s just your average complaining witness, why get a lawyer? What do you got to hide? He didn’t have a valid concealed carry permit. He wasn’t charged. He lies to the police about being armed that night. He said he dropped his gun going down the street. Ladies and gentlemen, that’s what’s called obstructing. Most people when you lie to the cops, especially in a murder investigation, you get in a little bit of trouble. I’ve represented some of those people.

Mark Richards: (49:21)
Not Mr. Grosskreutz, because he’s their star witness, bought, paid for, and protected. You don’t want us to search your phone? Oh, we’re going to invoke the never-heard-before Marsy’s Law exception to the search warrant, even though they had a signed search warrant by a judge of Kenosha County. He was also an armed medic. Wants you to believe that he didn’t have one in the chamber, and he would never shoot somebody, but before he said that, he said, “Key, wallet, phone, gun.” He never leaves the home without them.

Mark Richards: (50:02)
Ladies and gentlemen, I don’t carry a concealed weapon, and I don’t think I could shoot somebody, but when people carry guns, that’s what they’re for in the city. This isn’t the wild, wild West. He had his gun. Kyle Rittenhouse had run by him. You’ll see the picture, was by him, gone. Did he go to give medical help? He didn’t know that Mr. Rosenbaum was being tended to. No. He decided to run in and advance on the fray. He, the member, not member, excuse me, affiliated with the American’s Peoples Revolution here in Wisconsin. I might have that one word wrong, but he did it. Who ultimately put the tourniquet and fixed it on his arm, but Mr. Lackowski, a member of somebody he refers to as the militia, and the stooges.

Mark Richards: (51:03)
Two different encounters between Gaige Grosskreutz and my client. The first one, he does not show or give any indication of a weapon. My client does not point a weapon at him, does not shoot at him, does not swipe the weapon towards him. He states he’s going to the police. That is uncontradicted. Why doesn’t Mr. Grosskreutz let him be and go give aid and comfort to his fellow rioter? But instead he joins the mob chasing Kyle, arms himself, and runs in, the fifth or sixth person into the melee in scene two.

Mark Richards: (51:50)
When his friend was called, his friend said in his Facebook post his only regret was not emptying the clip into the kid. We know what his intent was. We know what he wanted to do. Kyle shot first as he was coming in. Mr. Binger talks about, “Oh, he was going to grab the gun.” Ladies and gentlemen, left hand, phone. How’s he going to grab a gun with a hand filled with a phone? Right hand, gun. He goes back, loads up, and is advancing. That’s when Kyle shoots him. He didn’t shoot him when he put his hands up, and if that was it, no intent to harm him, all he does, like everybody else, is back up, and nobody else gets shot. But Mr. Grosskreutz decides he’s going to shoot my client. Unfortunately, my client shot him first. If he had retreated, it’s over. When he’s got his hand up like this, as I said earlier, the hands are up. It’s not gripping the gun. It’s loose. But when he goes in like this, the pistol grip is tight.

Mark Richards: (53:20)
Heather Williams, crime lab. She testified that the gun works. I have no dispute regarding that. Detective Krieger, he was in the passenger seat of Moretti’s car, pepper sprayed. Did not get his ID. Didn’t ask him about the gun. Just told him to go home. Kristan Harris, Rundown Live, stated the video, we showed the video to start this, clearly depicting Mr. Rosenbaum standing there at Car Source Two shortly after the dumpster, standing there with his chain, his shirt tied up over his head, but Mr. Binger says it’s impossible for him to have threatened my client. That’s garbage, just like his case. Mr. Binger makes so much out of him one time saying stay on your property. My client has as much right to go anywhere in downtown Kenosha as anyone else, just as the rioters did, and as he walks out to see if anybody wants medical help, he’s not doing anything wrong. He’s not doing anything to provoke anybody.

Mark Richards: (54:47)
Detective Antaramian, the juxtaposition of him and Howard, as I said, he is the one who talks about what he sees in the video. Totally different, as you see. Why did Mr. Rosenbaum go behind that car, two cars over from the Ziminskis? What was he doing over there? Why was he doing over there, and why does he come out as soon as Kyle comes down the road? Because they were going to ambush him. They had set it up, and I’ll show you the video. James Armstrong. The only thing I can say about James Armstrong is okay, that’s interesting. But what I’d like to say about his photographs, his knowledge of what he did, and some of the statements that the state has made regarding it, is what he did for those 20 hours is hocus-pocus, and he makes an exhibit that is out of focus. That’s what the state is relying. The picture does not make sense. As I showed earlier, it has Kyle shouldering the gun in the left shoulder. If he has it in the left shoulder, his back would be to the drone. The drone is moving around, and that changes the focal point. He’s right-handed. That’s where it goes. You’d see the crosses across his chest, but no, they need him to have somehow pointed a gun at the Ziminskis. I don’t for a minute concede he did, but we know that Mr. Ziminski has been armed all evening.

Mark Richards: (56:51)
How would pointing a gun at Mr. Ziminski provoke Joseph Rosenbaum, who, according to the state earlier in the case, they didn’t even know each other? But I think they had to run away from that, because there’s so many pictures of them together. Mr. Armstrong’s photograph, testimony, it took three days and 20 hours worth of work to come up with that picture. It went from color to black and white, and he admitted he never compared it to the original photograph, the still shot. Didn’t take into consideration the fact that the drone was moving.

Mark Richards: (57:44)
The word peer-reviewed, state has said. Peer-reviewed is an independent verification of the events, the exhibit, so there was no testimony to this, because it didn’t happen, that Mr. Armstrong’s coworker did 20 hours on the same photograph and came up with the same result. It didn’t happen. When you see, and I’ll show it to you later, when you see in the video the mirror and the shininess of the mirror, that’s what that is. By going around spending 20 hours and bringing things up, it doesn’t account for Kyle’s arm. It doesn’t account for of the heat signature of the gun. None of it.

Mark Richards: (58:32)
Dr. Kelley, personally, my favorite witness, because physical evidence doesn’t lie. The soot, extremely close, if not touching. The location of the soot. I had him circle it on the exhibit. On redirect, after I had him do the demonstration and draw on the photograph, the state tried to get him to back up his opinion and back it off. He wouldn’t, because the physical evidence doesn’t lie. It’s, as they say in the business, an inconvenient truth. They can’t change it. It is what it is. That’s the demonstration that happened in front of you, the gun and the hand. If the individual’s coming straight at it, the barrel of the gun, it would go through the hand like this, but we know that it was coming from right here, going down, and came out with a very clean exit wound. No soot here at all, so we know that the gun can’t be here. We know there’s just a little bit of soot on what’s commonly referred to as the ring finger right here, and the bulk of it goes this way, because it was over the gun, touching the gun.

Mark Richards: (01:00:19)
Mr. Binger says he was swiping at the gun. Ladies and gentlemen, he didn’t need to chase him. Didn’t need to keep chasing him. Didn’t need to lunge at him. Didn’t need to swipe at the gun, i.e., grab the gun. The shot to the back, as I said, four shots in three-quarters of a second. He’s backing up, trying to stay away from him, shooting, and shoots until the threat is immobilized. Ladies and gentlemen, other people in this community have shot somebody seven times, and it’s been found to be okay, and my client did it four times in three-quarters of a second to protect his life from Mr. Rosenbaum. I’m sorry, but that’s what happened.

Mark Richards: (01:01:13)
This is the prosecutor who said he shot him in the back. He shot him in the back on a horizontal plane, consistent with lunging. The shot goes in here, and ended up in his lower hip across the back. If he’s on the ground, or down and shot, the bullet goes into the back, and ends up in the stomach or on the other side. It cleared back here, ended up in the lower hip. That’s because he was on a horizontal plane when Kyle shot him. He had stippling to the stomach from the first, the pants stopped it from lower, but it was still on the upper. The furthest he was away when the first shot was fired was four feet and closing. Four feet.

Mark Richards: (01:02:07)
I think it was Mr. Kraus and I who had to fight about how far four feet is. It’s not that far. It’s not that far at all. I brought a tape measure so I could measure a gun barrel for you today, but that’s no longer an issue, so I’ll show you what four feet is. No doubts. From the edge of the jury box to my foot right here, four feet. Lunge, grabbing the gun. Think how close that is. Think how fast that distance is closed.

Mark Richards: (01:02:55)
What was Joseph Rosenbaum doing? Was he running after my client to give him a key to the city of Kenosha? Was he running after my client to say, “Hey, thanks for providing security”? Use your common sense in your judgment. Look at Mr. Rosenbaum’s behavior throughout the night. As I showed you, these are the pictures. One last time [inaudible 01:03:24] use the pointer. Exhibit 105, Dr. Kelley, soot right here. Here’s entering. The exit’s right over here. Goes across clean. Came out right there. This right here, nothing. Nothing on the back part of the hand. No soot. We know what was over the barrel. Remember Mr. Kraus asking the doctor, “Well, what about that big puff of smoke?” That wouldn’t have an effect. Soot only goes so far.

Mark Richards: (01:04:02)
So it only goes so far. That was Dr. Kelley’s testimony. He doesn’t have a dog in the fight. He looks at the bodies, says what they are, makes the determination, and looks at the evidence. We had an expert. Didn’t call him, because Dr. Kelley told the truth. Couldn’t agree more. Ladies and gentlemen, facts and truth matter. In most trials, the case would’ve ended with Dr. Kelley, but we wanted to bring you our side of the story. We had nothing to hide. We were going to put on a defense. I heard Mr. Binger say red herring. The red herrings in this case are by the state, talking about super bullets, this metal jacket. I’ve been involved in homicide cases. One time it’s a metal jacket. The next time, the problem is the person had hollow points. Hollow points are designed to kill. Full metal jackets are to go through people.

Mark Richards: (01:05:12)
Ladies and gentlemen, bullets are bullets. Hate to tell you. At close range and close contact, they wreak havoc on a body, and they kill people. No dispute. Wants to keep pointing at the militia, the militia, the militia. He knows Kyle’s not a member of the militia. He has no evidence that he is. They went to the websites. They went to TikTok. They want all of that. All they can do is put up a little thing of a 17 year old kid from his TikTok, trying to be famous. Kyle shot Joseph Rosenbaum to stop a threat to his person. And I’m glad he shot him, because if Joseph Rosenbaum had got that gun, I don’t for a minute, believe he wouldn’t have used it against somebody else. He was irrational and crazy. We talked about active shooter, the power of those words. My client didn’t shoot at anyone until he was chased and cornered.

Mark Richards: (01:06:17)
Nick Smith got a phone call from Sam, asked on the second night of rioting to go down there to use the power washer and buckets to try and put out cars. He did that out of the goodness of his heart. Sam asked him to come and protect the next night, and be paid, and he agreed to do it. He asked some of his friends to come with the help. Kyle, Dominic Black, talked about another father and his son. And then the people from West Bend showed up. He said that when they first saw Sam on the 25th, Sam gave him a hug and thanked him for protecting his property. He was on the roof, one of his chemical bomb.

Mark Richards: (01:07:11)
He knew that Sam was grateful for their presence, but he also knew that people on the ground needed weapons. He heard Kyle when Kyle came back saying, “I had to shoot.” Body armor. I don’t know why the Grayslake cadet program gives people body armor. Don’t know. My client had it. And if he wanted to be an active shooter, as Mr. Bringer wants to portray him, why would he give up his body armor? Nick Smith wanted body armor. He goes, “Here, Nick use mine. I’m going to be doing medical, helping other people.” You see him do it throughout. He gave Nick his body armor. Why would somebody give up their body armor if they’re going to go out, looking for trouble, seeking confrontation. It doesn’t make sense.

Mark Richards: (01:08:05)
JoAnn Fielder, she described Joseph Rosenbaum wearing a red shirt with a green earring. She described yellow pants, well, I’ll get to later. She stated Joseph Rosenbaum yelled he was going to kill us MFers and cut their hearts out. JR’s arm goes up and within seconds, they’re tearing up from a gas bomb. She couldn’t say for sure that she saw him throw it, but obviously that’s the circumstantial evidence and her belief. She never saw Kyle act inappropriately with anybody, point a weapon at anybody. The size of the weapon might change, but it doesn’t change what it can do.

Mark Richards: (01:08:56)
Presence speaks volume. It’s a deterrent. And they had been pelted all night long with rocks. She was aware that they had consent to be where they are. Nathan DeBruin, interesting witness. He was out there taking photographs on the nights in question, more importantly, the 25th. He filmed the destruction of this community, uptown, downtown, and the ATF and the FBI found out about his videos, his still photography, which I think was incredible. They wanted it. And what did he do? Didn’t ask for money. He gave it to them. He sat down with the detective and gave a full interview, showed him the photographs, talked about Mr. Rosenbaum and all the problems he was causing that night, the things he was doing. And that’s within less than a month after this. He’d never met Kyle Rittenhouse. Didn’t know Kyle Rittenhouse, but he had a feeling about what happened that night. And he said, “If there was trouble, Mr. Rosenbaum was there.” I don’t think any truer words have ever been repeated. Did he have a lawyer when he met with detective Howard? No, he didn’t. When did he get a lawyer? Remember after he met with Mr. Krause and Mr. Binger. Mr. Binger, the person who has made it his personal goal of putting my client’s head on his wall. Ladies and gentlemen, that’s what it did. And it means he’s been cutting corners. And Nathan DeBruin said, “After meeting with Mr. Binger, I was very uncomfortable. He tried to put words in my mouth.” And he had to go and hire a lawyer to protect him. First, it was show him the videos and then ask him the questions, trying to put words in his mouth. He didn’t want that to happen. He wanted to be able to tell his story of what he knew, what he did. He talked about Ziminsky, the photographs of all the conduct that Ziminsky had done that night. And I’ll show you some of them. The photos have a timestamp on him.

Mark Richards: (01:11:33)
And he related to Detective Howard in September of 2020, about Joseph Rosenbaum yelling, “I just got out of jail and I’m not afraid to go back.” Those are his words that he heard Mr. Rosenbaum. It was not objected to by the state, and there’s been no proof that he wasn’t in a jail. They want you to believe he was in a hospital. There’s no medical records he was in a hospital. There’s no medical records he was properly medicated. And I submit to you that in this case, the way he was behaving, I don’t think he was properly medicated. There’s pictures of him with the trailer fires, the chains, starting numerous dumpster fires. I submit that he was with the Ziminskys on many of the occasions. And he was emboldened by Mr. Ziminsky, because Mr. Ziminsky was always brandishing his firearm. We saw Joseph Rosenbaum taking the chains.

Mark Richards: (01:12:40)
He chose to come down and riot. And that’s what he did. Nathan DeBruin chronicled that. Why did he Chronicle it? Because it’s not very interesting if you take a picture of a protestor, who’s just standing there. But Mr. Rosenbaum was involved in all these different things, and I’ll show you those pictures. Lucas Zanin, Kenosha county resident, every now and again, he goes down to Texas in the winter, testified, born and raised. He stated he had empathy for the small businesses of Kenosha, did not want them looted, did not want them burned. Is that somehow to be called into question? Does any of us want those fires started and to come and burn? I don’t think so.

Mark Richards: (01:13:35)
He authenticated the video that was taken from his car as accurate, showing the south side of Car Source Three. And you watch that video, and you see people destroying someone else’s property. During the video, you look at the one wall. There’s nothing there. You see somebody spray painting on it, and they’ve written the word loot on it. You see another individual going in the hood of the car, trying to do something. It’s not his car. He’s not some roadside mechanic. They’re destroying property. Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Binger and I will go round and round about it until the cows come home. They were rioters. They weren’t demonstrators. Were the demonstrators down by the courthouse earlier in the night? Yes. There were people doing legitimate demonstration. These people were rioting. And you see in his tape, they’re hitting the cars with pipes. You hear the glass breaking. You see the people jumping on it.

Mark Richards: (01:14:42)
And the important part of it, and I’ll show it to you, is you hear the first bang, which is Mr. Ziminsky shot. Two seconds later, you hear the next shot, and then you see the Exodus of all the people taking off from that. That’s why Kyle couldn’t run and continue to run from Mr. Rosenbaum, which he was under no legal duty to do whatsoever. Jacob Marshall referred to himself as Gaige Grosskreutz’s best friend. We brought Mr. [inaudible 01:15:25] best friend in as a witness, because he had posted something on Facebook immediately after this. He testified he couldn’t find Gaige Grosskreutz, because he was under an anonymous name at the hospital. Nobody knew who Gaige Grosskreutz was, who Jacob Marshall was. But he takes it upon himself to post a Facebook message talking about how… Go to the next slide please.

Mark Richards: (01:16:02)
I just talked to Gaige to his only regret was not killing the kid and hesitating to pull the gun before emptying the entire mag. Coward. Here’s the picture of them hugging each other at the hospital. And this is posted. Ladies and gentlemen, why does somebody post something like that? Because that’s what his friend told him. And he wanted to get Gaige Grosskreutz word out. He didn’t repost and say, “I lied.” He took it down to try and hide it. But unfortunately, the internet has a memory. Next witness was Kyle Rittenhouse. I’m done with the [Kanderi 01:17:03] brothers. We did recall them, but I talked about that. Kyle Rittenhouse did not have to take the witness stand to tell his story. It was told through video. He wanted you, as the jurors, to hear his personal experience of the night of the 25th.

Mark Richards: (01:17:22)
He knew Mr. Binger would cross-examine him for hours. And he was willing to get up on that witness stand, take the oath, and tell his story the best way he could. And he did. Could Mr. Binger pick on him and find little things about it? A little bit. Did he damage his credibility? I don’t think so. Getting to Mr. Yellow Pants, which he’s been talked about, Mr. Binger talks about… He says with sarcasm… Ladies and gentlemen, you’ve seen the video, but remember that when Yellow Pants said to Kyle, he goes, “You held your gun like this. That’s low ready. That’s not like this. It’s down.” He never pointed his gun at him. Did he have a gun? Yes. Did he tell him to get off a car? Yeah, but when he said it to Kyle, Kyle said, “I did,” and walked away, not wanting confrontation. And remember Richie McGinness’s testimony about that. There was the individual with the slingshot. There was the individual with two rocks in his hand, and the other individual with the gun.

Mark Richards: (01:18:31)
And when Mr. McGinness walked up to him, he immediately had to put his hand down, because the one advanced on him. And he bought them off with a White Claw. My client, when this happened, was 17 years old. His actions are to be judged as a 17 year old, not by Mr Binger’s standards, but by that of a 17 year old. And Mr McGinness said, he didn’t appreciate the way people looked at him. And maybe he didn’t. And I think the best evidence of that is when Mr. Rosenbaum begins chasing him. You hear on the tape, he yells “Friendly, friendly, friendly,” three times. He thinks that if he just says the magic words, they’ll stop. They don’t. Mr. Rosenbaum could’ve looked at and said, “Hey, you’re not trying to harm anybody. I’ll leave you alone.” Is that what happened? No. He said, “You ain’t going to do, Mother F-er,” and began to continue to chase him. Mr. Rosenbaum made a fatal mistake that day, chasing Kyle Rittenhouse into the corner. He ran as far as he could, and he shot four times in three quarters of a second. Mr. Binger makes so much of Kyle’s residence. Antioch, Illinois. I think most people here know where it is. It’s not a foreign country. Antioch, Illinois, right across the border. He worked in Kenosha. His dad lived in Kenosha. His grandmother lived in Kenosha. He worked in Pleasant Prairie. His best friend, Dominic Black, lived in downtown Kenosha. They want you to believe that there’s some sinister thing about that. Ladies and gentlemen, we live in a very mobile world. I’m from the foreign country of Racine, Wisconsin, 13 miles away, little bit further. I’m on the north side. Ladies and gentlemen, when Kenosha burned, people who like Kenosha, they hurt. I remember 34 years ago, walking into this courtroom, first time I ever appeared as a lawyer, back in that conference room. And when I saw what happened in Kenosha, it bothered me those three days. People can protest, but people can’t indiscriminately burn property for no reason, of innocent people. How does that further anyone’s cause? Kyle feels for this community. He worked as a lifeguard.

Mark Richards: (01:21:31)
When he came down here, are we to believe that he’s working to clean up graffiti, not getting paid, because he’s here to look for trouble? Is this all some master plan? That’s ridiculous. He came down here trying to help to see the damage, and that’s what he did. Next. Dr. John Black, his testimony about the slides making times, and I’ll go over some of those. But specifically, as I argued earlier, the zero shot from… I should say it this way. “Friendly, friendly,” three times to the first shot, 10 point some seconds. There’s a change in elevation in the video. As he’s lunging forward, the shot rings out after that. The zero shot, which is shot one, then 2 26 hundredths, the next one, 24, 23, for a total of .739. He gets up. He comes around the car because all the individuals had left. After hearing the shots, goes to check. And to believe that he could stay there is preposterous. All I said would’ve happened, scene two, would’ve been moved to scene one.

Mark Richards: (01:23:07)
You heard the one individual yell, “Get the F out of here.” The Ziminskys are screaming, “He just shot him. He just shot him. Get him. Cream him.” That’s all happening. Mr. Ziminsky’s walking around with his gun over his head, pointing at Kyle. And I’ll show you that in a little bit. In the exhibits, as Dr. Black showed the jury, no color was added. No color was subtracted. The videos didn’t go from color to black and white. There was no structural problems. He demonstrated his technique regarding changing brightness and contrast right in front of you. And the one video went from a dark mess of nothing. Moved the two lines. I don’t know how to do it, but he did, right in front of you. Hit it, and all of a sudden it’s light, and you can see it. The whole event that evening took two minutes and 55 seconds from the three times, “Friendly,” to the time he attempted to surrender at law enforcement. Officer Britney Bray, let me go through it. Back up to the first one. Total time, two minutes, 55 seconds, according to Dr. Black.

Mark Richards: (01:24:25)
Next. “Friendly, friendly,” four shots, 10.8 seconds. Those are the shot times. Remember the sound he put and synced up with the video. That was the audio graph, the green thing he showed you. You can see when the shot is fired. He matches it up, times them out by the frames per second. You come up with those numbers. And that’s because when you show something in slow motion, it looks like somebody can really have the time to think, process, and do all that. You have to remember how fast all this was happening in event number one. He’s running. The bag is thrown. He turns, addresses, keeps running, and makes a life and death decision that he has to turn around and address the threat of Mr. Rosenbaum. At that point, Kyle has stopped Mr. Rosenbaum like those other people in event number two. Could have put up his hands and just backed up, made a bad decision. Shouldn’t have done it. No. He goes diving for him. Yells the, “F you,” and is going for his gun.

Mark Richards: (01:25:35)
Next. Event two, I have it beginning when he’s hit in the head with the rock and ending with the fourth shot, taking 14.9 seconds. Next, police officer Brittany Bray measured the gun. The pull back, the slide, four inches. Brought the ruler out, because you never see in event number two, Kyle pull back the four inches, slow motion, or otherwise. There were no unfired bullets found at the scene for the AR. There was the unfired bullet by the clip and the Glock that had been cleared from Jason Lakowski. Drew Hernandez. Mr. Binger, for some reason, didn’t like Drew Hernandez. You could hear it in his questioning. Ladies and gentlemen, Drew Hernandez had a point of view. There’s no doubt about it. But what was that point of view? He’s a citizen journalist, and he’s covering the riots. And he didn’t think that the mass media was covering the riots correctly. They were just calling everybody demonstrators and not covering the devastation and the destruction that was being done. That’s his point of view.

Mark Richards: (01:27:07)
It’s kind of my point of view too, but does that mean that his video’s lying? Does that mean when he says, “I saw him lunge,” that he’s lying. He doesn’t have a dog in this fight. He tried to get all of his video to the state. The Dropbox wasn’t big enough. He sees that the case is going to trial. He reaches out, gets a lawyer, and provides it simultaneously to both of us. And we end up playing it. He describes the Ziminskys, Joseph Rosenbaum, starting fires in the dumpster, the yelling. He sees Kyle, the yelling of the N word. He sees Kyle walking around yelling, “Medical, medical,” right up until the last time when event number one starts. He was standing right at the corner, had a clear view to the first incident. He described him as charging from behind. He saw Joseph Rosenbaum throw the bag.

Mark Richards: (01:28:13)
He described hearing a shot from behind Kyle, which we all know is the Ziminsky shot. The man who’s never been brought before you people. And he saw Joseph Rosenbaum lunge. Ladies and gentlemen, you sat through almost 10 days of testimony. You’ve heard the openings, most of the closings. And I have yet to hear Mr. Binger explain why Joseph Rosenbaum had the right to chase my client. To me, if I didn’t know better, I would think he’s a whiny defense lawyer. Everybody’s out to get me. Everybody’s lying. I’m the one who’s bringing forth the truth. Ladies and gentlemen, the videos show the truth. The videos show the actions of Joseph Rosenbaum.

Mark Richards: (01:29:14)
[Welch 01:29:14] is lying. Fiedler’s lying. Lakowski’s lying. Richie is lying. Dale DeBruin, he’s really lying, because he’s imputing my character. Nathan DeBruin, excuse me. Hernandez, he’s lying, because he’s a right wing journalist. All six of them are lying. And then, I forgot, Detective Howard. He’s lying too because he could see through the videos. He could see that Rosenbaum came out from hiding behind the car after my client passed the Duramax. Rush to judgment, as I said earlier. You bet. Highly charged atmosphere here in Kenosha. Make no mistake. You live here. You know. They had to do something. They had to charge the white supremacist who isn’t a white supremacist. They’ve never reassessed their case. They’ve never looked at it. They’ve never said, “Oh, Dr. Kelley, let’s talk about this wound on the hand. That means he was touching the barrel or his hand was over the barrel when it was fired.Well that means he was pretty close. No, we’re not going to reassess. We’re going to March forward. We’re going to throw it into the hands of 12 people from the city and let them do our work.”

Mark Richards: (01:30:35)
Ladies, gentlemen, this is a political case. We can take politics out of it, as in Democrat and Republican. But the district attorney’s office is marching forward with this case because they need somebody to be responsible. They need somebody to put and say, “We did it. He’s the person who brought terror to Kenosha.” Kyle Rittenhouse is not that individual. The rioters, the demonstrators who turned into rioters, those are the individuals who bring us forth. And I ask you to remember, and I’ll show you the videos for the last time from me, the anger in the mob that was going on that night, they were not going to be to dissuaded from doing things. They were pushing, firing dumpsters, destroying property. So you’re saying Mr. Rittenhouse put out a fire? Yes. It was a small fire. Last time I checked, small fires turn into big fires. So kind of stupid. James Armstrong, hocus pocus, out of focus. I’ve talked about him. He spent 20 hours reworking a frame in a video and averaging, having my clients somehow miraculously go from a right-handed shooter to a left-handed shooter. The mirror on the truck is the arm.

Mark Richards: (01:32:11)
Their whole case relies on that one photograph that he’d spent 20 hours. That’s how they’re going to prove provocation, a word you’ve never heard in the opening statement. It was my client chased him down and shot him in the back. Oops, can’t prove that. This is the day before, Car Source One burning the ground. What’s in the foreground? A trailer, should be the subject pictures later on. There’s Kyle, earlier in the day on the 25th, setting up his alibi, setting up his I’m a good person story, because he thinks he’s going to go out and kill three people that night. Ladies and gentlemen, that is garbage. How would he know he is going to be photographed? And what does that do? It just shows he’s interested in this community trying to do good. Picture, Mr. Kanderi, at Car Source Three. The state doesn’t want Kyle to go to Car Source Three. According to the state, he has to stay at Car Source Two, 59th and Sheridan. Yet, Nick Smith called and asked him to go there, because whoever was going to protect that property had left.

Speaker 5: (01:33:42)
Objection, Your Honor. The record does not indicate that Nick Smith made that phone call.

Speaker 6: (01:33:47)
It’s argument that… Folks, you heard the evidence, and use your collective recollections to determine what the truth of it is and discount anything that is not supported in the evidence.

Mark Richards: (01:33:58)
Testimony was, he received a phone call saying they were destroying cars at Car Source Three, and he went down there. First, Kyle asked for a fire extinguisher, asked the other individual to go down there with him. He said didn’t give an answer, and Kyle took off going down there to try and help protect that property. This is that night, the tear gas, the fires. Here is Mr. Rosenbaum pushing one of many dumpsters. Dumpster fires, right there. That’s one. Another one. [inaudible 01:34:50]. Stop. Bats, guns. Mr. Rosenbaum pushing it in, either the gas station or Drew Hernandez [inaudible 01:35:01] police vehicle right down here. They’re trying to push it to him.

Speaker 7: (01:35:05)
I can’t hear [inaudible 01:35:05].

Mark Richards: (01:35:05)
I apologize. They’re trying to push the dumpster down to the line of police or to the gas station. It’s put out, and the reaction from Mr. Rosenbaum. I have dumpster number two.

Joseph Rosenbaum: (01:35:24)
[crosstalk 01:35:24]. Why you do that?

Mark Richards: (01:35:26)
You hear the voice, “Why you do that?”

Joseph Rosenbaum: (01:35:41)
[inaudible 01:35:41].

Mark Richards: (01:35:43)
Get over this. There’s Mr. Rosenbaum, arguing. Mr. Ziminsky, the smiling puppeteer, standing behind him. Yeah. They didn’t know each other. Maybe they didn’t, but they sure spent a lot of time together that night. Mr. Ziminsky with the yellow circle, holding his firearm, yell-

Mark Richards: (01:36:03)
With the yellow circle, holding his firearm, yellow pants, Kelly Ziminski with a flashlight in her hand. Last time I checked, there wasn’t any lighting problems. The flashlight is a weapon to bash heads if you have to.

Mark Richards: (01:36:22)
Many people with AR-15s. Not one person with an AR-15. That’s the difference between this, the Ultimate Gas Station fracas and what happened down at Car Source 3. Kyle Rittenhouse was alone. He had been taken away from the herd and Mr. Rosenbaum and Mr. Ziminski were going to get him.

Video: (01:36:51)
[crosstalk 01:36:51].

Mark Richards: (01:36:53)
Movement.

Mark Richards: (01:36:57)
Mr. Rosenbaum and his bag. He’s not dissuaded by the people, he’s going right at them.

Video: (01:37:10)
[crosstalk 01:37:10].

Mark Richards: (01:37:13)
He’s not afraid of them, he’s pushing in and going at them. He’s not afraid of a gun. Yelling.

Video: (01:37:26)
[crosstalk 01:37:26].

Mark Richards: (01:37:28)
“Shoot me N-word, shoot me N-word,” Mr. Ziminski, holding his gun down to his side, remembering this is a Black Lives Matter rally and he’s there to support their cause. Yeah, right.

Video: (01:37:52)
[crosstalk 01:37:52].

Mark Richards: (01:37:56)
Mr. Huber, right there, holding him back, actually physically holding him back, but right in the middle of it. Look at the anger in his face.

Mark Richards: (01:38:12)
Here, I’ll start it, but I’m going to point it out first. We saw video earlier of this individual starting the Duramax on fire right here, jump kick man.

Video: (01:38:24)
[crosstalk 01:38:24].

Mark Richards: (01:38:24)
You see him shoot in the lighter fluid or flammable liquid. You see jump kick man being right involved.

Mark Richards: (01:38:51)
This is the calm Tuesday evening that Mr. Binger is alluding to. Mr. Rosenbaum, this time wearing a blue mask, tipping over the porta potty. It was just a little porta potty. The trailer. The trailer’s important because it’s the way he arms himself with the chain. Here’s Rosenbaum pushing it. If he’s just a regular demonstrator or misunderstood, a little bit upset, what does he need a chain for? What does he need a bag? Why didn’t he leave it with Ms. [Schwartz 01:39:33]?

Mark Richards: (01:39:35)
Here, three things. Blue circle, his bag, backed up by the fire. Look at that bag. Does that look like there’s nothing in it? Look at this. What is that? That’s not a water bottle, ladies and gentlemen. I can’t tell you what it is, but it’s not a water bottle. Look at this, two feet of chain on each side. He’s got it, taken, I’m sure, from right here, the tow chain. Jump kick man, right there, the mask and white jeans, the black. Look at the boots. Those boots would soon be impacting my client’s face. Rundown live. Here once again, Rosenbaum, Ziminski at the trailer. After it’s been taken down on the street, set up on its side and started on fire. You can still see one of the chains hanging from the tongue of the trailer. Run down live. The state showed this video. I started my opening statement with it. I was going to show you where Mr. Rosenbaum is. I’ve already done it. Don’t need to waste your time.

Video: (01:41:02)
[crosstalk 01:41:02].

Mark Richards: (01:41:02)
How do I get to the end?

Mark Richards: (01:41:13)
Oh. Here’s the picture that we showed at the beginning right there. The 1:25:26, Mr. Rosenbaum masked with his chain during the rundown live video.

Mark Richards: (01:41:28)
Mr. Rosenbaum with the chain. So he said it earlier, look at how Kyle’s dressed. Look at the pack on his left side, left hip, the crosses going across the front and the back of his chest. Nowhere in the magic picture is that depicted.

Mark Richards: (01:41:51)
11:40 he’s crossed over that line, asking people if they want medical, runs into yellow pants, he walks away from confrontation and yellow pants said, “You pointed your gun at me.” And he goes like this, low ready. The individuals who were there with him, slingshot, rocks in the hand, gun, Mr. McGinness. Kyle, after having the brief thing with yellow pants, he goes away from them, goes over, looks for Mr. Balch. They might have been close to one another, but they did not find one another. He tries to go back, wants to get back to Car Source 2.

Video: (01:42:53)
[crosstalk 01:42:53].

Mark Richards: (01:42:58)
After that he goes back and waits. He gets the phone call. He testified about the phone call either from Nick or Dominic. And what does he do? He gets a fire extinguisher. He hasn’t had a fire extinguisher all night, but he gets a fire extinguisher. The circumstantial evidence shows the call came through. He testified the call came through. You know if it wasn’t in his phone, the state would’ve brought it up. But now they’re playing games once again. This is Drew Hernandez’s video. It starts in color. Excuse me, it starts black and white, goes to color. You have jump kick man, [inaudible 01:43:47] Ziminksi, and you’ll hear Kelly Ziminski talking. And during the first part of the trial, we saw this trailer go by and it cut off the view from this location. And I’ll stop it a few times. And… Did you hear that? Talking about a pepper ball exploding in her ass. That’s Kelly Ziminski speaking.

Video: (01:44:17)
[inaudible 01:44:17].

Mark Richards: (01:44:30)
It’s blurry. Keep your eye here and here. Kyle will come into view. That’s Kyle right there to the right of the garbage can by that splurge of light. Mr. Rosenbaum, as soon as Kyle is coming, gets up and starts walking away on Kelly’s Ziminski. This individual, jump kick man, was there earlier.

Video: (01:45:22)
[crosstalk 01:45:22].

Mark Richards: (01:45:25)
Oh, there. That’s Kyle with the fire extinguisher walking. Doesn’t say anything to any of them. They see him coming. They head down to do their ambush. He’s not chasing them. He’s not running after them. He’s walking down to put out the fire. Start it over again.

Video: (01:46:03)
[inaudible 01:46:03].

Mark Richards: (01:46:06)
You hear Kyle yell “Friendly, friendly, friendly.” That is the start of Mr. Rosenbaum chasing Kyle.

Video: (01:46:22)
[inaudible 01:46:22].

Mark Richards: (01:46:23)
Now they come in. He’s thrown. It goes to the small. He’s throwing the bag.

Video: (01:46:35)
[inaudible 01:46:35]. That Duramax got fucking [inaudible 01:46:41].

Mark Richards: (01:46:41)
Duramax. Going to shine on the Duramax. Kyle comes right into this area before he is chased. That’s shown on the drone video. It’s shown on the FBI video. Ziminskis are standing right here and that’s when the chase is on.

Video: (01:47:07)
Damn, that is-

Mark Richards: (01:47:16)
You hear the destruction of the vehicles as he approaches.

Video: (01:47:48)
[crosstalk 01:47:48].

Mark Richards: (01:47:52)
Gun, gun, gun, and he’s off and running. We’ve seen the videos here. Because this is [inaudible 01:48:01] video. Parts of it. As I said, watch for the first shot. Look at all those people. Standing there. A wall of people destroying cars. The state wants Kyle to run into that wall of people. Listen for the first shot and watch the lackadaisical attitude. Then hear the four shots of quick succession and watch what happens.

Video: (01:48:44)
They shot him. Oh shit. Oh my god.

Mark Richards: (01:48:49)
Think about that, ladies and gentlemen. The first shot happens. They barely begin to move. Between the first shot and Kyle’s first shot, which is the second shot you hear, Kyle has turned around. Why has he turned around? Because that wall of people is there and he has nowhere else to run. The cars, the van, all of the people destroying property, the soda machine, he turns around and Mr. Rosenbaum keeps coming. Mr. Rosenbaum keeps coming. He lunges, gunshots. There’s Mr. Ziminski with his gun down there at his side. As his wife yells F-ing get him, F-ing get him, he just shot somebody. Which they started.

Video: (01:49:57)
He shot him, get him back.

Mark Richards: (01:49:58)
Pointing the gun. Once again, in his right hand.

Video: (01:50:19)
He shot him. He shot him. He shot him. [inaudible 01:50:20].

Mark Richards: (01:50:22)
Gage Groskowitz’s cell phone video. Does Kyle ever point the firearm at Gage Groskowitz when he runs up on him, unarmed?

Video: (01:50:35)
[crosstalk 01:50:35] what are you doing? [crosstalk 01:50:45]. Hey, what are you doing? You shot somebody?

Mark Richards: (01:50:48)
I’m going to get the police. He’s going towards the police. He’s continuing on, he’s past Gage Groskowitz. He hasn’t shot Gage Groskowitz. He hasn’t pointed the firearm at Gage Groskowitz. The medic, if he thinks someone is shot, why isn’t he there? He doesn’t know Richie McGinness tending to him. None of the people who chase him are at Car Source 3. There is no evidence. Ziminski doesn’t chase him. Ziminski doesn’t want anything to do with it. His wife doesn’t want anything to do with it, but the mob has now formed and is chasing him down Sheridan Road in a northerly direction.

Video: (01:51:26)
[crosstalk 01:51:26] Who shot? Who shot?

Mark Richards: (01:51:31)
He turns all the way around looking towards Car Source 3. Could go there. At this point he hasn’t armed himself. Kyle is zero threat to anyone. This active shooter BS is something that Mr. Binger is trying to sell you people.

Mark Richards: (01:51:51)
Has he shot anybody since Car Source 3? No, he hasn’t. He’s running to try and get to the police. Mr. Binger must live in fairytale land to think that Kyle could stop, put his gun down and say, “Hey, everything’s good. Leave me alone. I’m going to the police.” Unfortunately, that’s not how the real world works. This was real world.

Video: (01:52:18)
Hey, stop him.

Mark Richards: (01:52:20)
People yelling to stop him. Next picture. You saw it opening statements. Mr. Groskowitz chasing down Kyle Rittenhouse. Kept his gun in the small of his back. He’s arming himself right here. Look how far Kyle Rittenhouse is ahead of him. No threat. He’s run two blocks, almost three. Because it’s at the far end of 63rd. He hasn’t shot his gun since. If he’s an active shooter looking to take as many people as possible, he’s laying waste to everybody as he was running. Remember he’s got 30 bullets. He shot eight times, four in scene one and four coming up. He’s not indiscriminately shooting, pointing, doing anything.

Mark Richards: (01:53:17)
Here’s full speed.

Video: (01:53:20)
[crosstalk 01:53:20].

Mark Richards: (01:53:22)
Pointing the gun at anyone? No. Running down the street, trying to get to those lights where the Bearcats are and law enforcement. He’s not running off to the side to hide in the shadows.

Video: (01:53:38)
[crosstalk 01:53:38].

Mark Richards: (01:53:39)
Blow to the head. First knocking his hat off. What has Kyle Rittenhouse done? Nothing. Trying to get away from the mob. First strike from the mob. He’s not an active shooter. He’s gone two blocks, hasn’t shot anybody.

Video: (01:54:02)
[crosstalk 01:54:02].

Mark Richards: (01:54:05)
Coming in behind with a skateboard at the ready, Anthony Huber. That will be strike number one.

Video: (01:54:19)
[crosstalk 01:54:19].

Mark Richards: (01:54:19)
Remember in opening statements when Mr. Binger said, “Oh, something happened to his skateboard.” He took a swing at him. Kyle blocked it with his arm in the enhanced photos. What does Mr. Huber do? He runs, grabs a skateboard and comes in for more.

Video: (01:54:32)
[crosstalk 01:54:32].

Mark Richards: (01:54:32)
He’s on the ground. The most vulnerable position you can be in. And what do we have? We have Anthony Huber here already picking up his skateboard. For this guy, with the towel wrapped around his head come and get on Kyle. Jump kick man. Guys hit him in the head. We go forward just a little bit. See if it works this far. Nope.

Video: (01:55:16)
[crosstalk 01:55:16].

Mark Richards: (01:55:16)
You saw this individual over here, who’s now obstructed, come in at Kyle. Kyle points his firearm, at him, he backs up. Kyle does not shoot. Jump kick man is leading with his foot. This foot is still on the ground. What direction is Kyle pointing right now? Watch what happens after jump kick man kicks him in the face.

Mark Richards: (01:55:52)
He’s turned around. He’s looking in that direction. Anthony Huber coming in with the skateboard. Watch what Anthony Huber does with the skateboard.

Mark Richards: (01:56:06)
Blow to the head. Coming in, Kyle’s trying to get up. Anthony Huber’s hand goes on to the gun. This is the fast one. The gun is pulled away from Kyle, Anthony Huber fires. When Anthony Huber fires, Gage Groskowitz flinches, covers up. Natural uncontrollable reaction.

Mark Richards: (01:56:56)
Back.

Video: (01:56:56)
[crosstalk 01:56:56]. Get his ass [crosstalk 01:57:12].

Mark Richards: (01:57:12)
Get his ass. Now here’s the slow motion. He’s been hitting the head. The cap is off. Anthony Huber winds up with the full force of his body and back here he swings the skateboard at Kyle. Kyle senses it coming. He turns around and looks, blocks it with his arm. Doesn’t turn around and shoot Anthony Huber as he’s being attacked with what is a deadly weapon. A skateboard can cause death or great bodily harm, ladies and gentlemen. He doesn’t do it. He continues to run a couple of steps before the blow to the head. And this is knocked under the ground. He immediately changes direction, goes running for the skateboard.

Mark Richards: (01:58:17)
Want to get through this one.

Mark Richards: (01:58:23)
Okay. Now this is slow motion. Just as he’s on the ground. He’s set up, trying to get up. The individual to Kyle’s left is the one who runs in, Kyle points the firearm, he backs off. He is not shot at.

Mark Richards: (01:58:46)
Backs up. He’s now addressing the second nearest threat, does not shoot. That individual right there in that picture is stopping. Jump kick man launches. Contact fire turned around. In comes Anthony Hube.r blow to the head and [inaudible 01:59:21]. Now I’m going to start it. You’ll see Anthony Huber pull on his gun and you’ll see the butt of the gun separate from Kyle’s body going in that direction, away from him.

Mark Richards: (01:59:35)
See the gun being pulled away from him? Shot. Mr. [inaudible 02:00:02] goes down. Groskowitz flinches, freezes, stops.

Mark Richards: (02:00:15)
Hands up. No pull.

Mark Richards: (02:00:25)
Mr. Groskowitz is standing like this. And all of a sudden you see him kick his foot back and launch forward. He loads his back foot going forward at Kyle with a loaded Glock handgun. Kyle sees it coming, gets within a couple of feet. He fires. If he’s got his hands up and wants nothing to do with Kyle, like everybody else, just back away and you don’t get shot. Mr. Groskowitz decides he’s going to take him out. And his only regret as stated in the Facebook post, he didn’t fire first and empty his clip into the kid.

Mark Richards: (02:01:12)
He’s hit in the arm. He’s shot at once. He’s backing up. That’s the last shot. And went through the quickness of the shots from the rock in the head to that fourth shot. He gets up. You still see this individual armed with a board or two by four or a fence post, doesn’t shoot at him. This person, he doesn’t perceive as to danger. His hands are up. Doesn’t shoot at him. Now, as he wheels around, watch what this individual does.

Mark Richards: (02:01:54)
That was the end of it. Kyle turns around. He’s turns, that individual steps away from him. No more shots.

Video: (02:02:21)
[crosstalk 02:02:21].

Mark Richards: (02:02:21)
Doesn’t shoot. Randomly shots from behind him, continues on his way. Trying to turn himself into the police. Trying to get to the end of it. People yelling to shoot him. He doesn’t stop because it’s not safe. Goes with his hands up to law enforcement.

Video: (02:02:59)
[inaudible 02:02:59].

Mark Richards: (02:03:14)
Continues on, hands up. You hear the story about the pepper spray.

Mark Richards: (02:03:21)
Ladies and gentlemen, that’s the case. There was no threatening behavior that started this. Mr. Rosenbaum was hell bent on causing trouble that night, he did what he did. And he started this. There are tragic parts of it, but Kyle Rittenhouse’s behavior was protected under the law of the State of Wisconsin, the law of self-defense.

Mark Richards: (02:03:52)
You’ve heard the instructions and I’ll end with this. You decide on count one. If you decide that his conduct was privileged under the use of self-defense, you don’t go on to the lesser included. If it was privileged under self-defense, that affects count two. Both of the things that happened in scene one, as I read earlier, page nine of the jury instructions. If his conduct was privileged as to Rosenbaum, it’s privileged as to Mr. McGinness.

Mark Richards: (02:04:25)
On to the next ones at scene two. Ladies and gentlemen, there is no evidence whatsoever that he was an active shooter other than Mr. Binger calling him that. And there’s no evidence that any of those other individuals who attacked him in the mob that night were attacking an active shooter. He wasn’t shooting. And if they want to be the heroes and they want to beat somebody and do what they’re going to do to them, they better be right. And they weren’t. Kyle Rittenhouse shot Mr. Rosenbaum because he was attacking Kyle. Every person who was shot was attacking Kyle. One with a skateboard, one with his hands, one with his feet, one with a gun. Hands and feet can cause great bodily harm. Sure the state’s going to get up and say, “Well, he didn’t have great bodily harm, so it doesn’t matter.” That’s not the standard. The standard is could cause great bodily harm.

Mark Richards: (02:05:34)
My client does not have to take a beating from the hands of this mob or the hands of Mr. Rosenbaum. And Mr. Rosenbaum might be little, but he was a pretty muscular guy. And some 30-some-year-old guy can take a 17-year-old kid, nine times till Tuesday.

Mark Richards: (02:05:54)
Ladies and gentlemen, it’s a tough choice, but the evidence only leads to one conclusion. That is that Kyle Rittenhouse’s conduct on August 25th was privileged based upon the actions of Mr. Rosenbaum and others. There are no winners in this case, but putting Kyle Rittenhouse down for something he was privileged to do will serve no legitimate purpose. I ask you to do this, do justice here under the law of the State of Wisconsin. Thank you very much.

Speaker 8: (02:06:31)
Thank you, Mr. Richards.

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