Defense lawyer says putting Rittenhouse on witness stand ‘wasn’t a close call’

One of the defense attorneys for Kyle Rittenhouse, who has now been acquitted after fatally shooting two Kenosha, Wis., protesters last year while injuring a third, said that putting his client on the witness stand “wasn’t a close call.”

“At certain points we wondered whether we would put him on. We had a mock jury and we did two different juries, one with him testifying and one without him testifying. It was substantially better when he testified,” Mark Richards told reporters following the announcement of the verdict.

“But in Wisconsin, if you don’t put a client out on the stand, you’re going to lose. Period,” Richards added. 

Mark Richards, Kyle Rittenhouse’s defense attorney, says his client is eager to get on with his life and is feeling a great sense of relief following his acquittal on all five counts against him today. https://t.co/aHZpTCnqLM pic.twitter.com/iq6d8OjX3B

— CNN Newsroom (@CNNnewsroom) November 19, 2021

On Friday, a jury acquitted Rittenhouse of all five counts, including intentional homicide, after he shot and killed two protesters at a demonstration against police brutality. He also shot and injured another man. 

Rittenhouse, armed with an AR-15, made his way to Wisconsin last year to protect local businesses as the demonstrations erupted following the police shooting of Jacob Blake, a Black man. 

Rittenhouse claimed that he was acting in self-defense when he shot the three people.

During his trial, he took the stand in what was considered a risky move for defense teams given that cross-examinations by prosecutors can open the defendant up to vulnerabilities. 

Rittenhouse testified, “I didn’t intend to kill them. I intended to stop the people who were attacking me.”

“If I would have let Mr. Rosenbaum take my firearm from me, he would have used it and killed me with it and probably killed more people if I would have let him get my gun,” he said.

Reactions to the jury verdict were divided along partisan lines as Democrats and criminal justice advocates blasted the decision and conservatives hailed it, with one lawmaker even offering Rittenhouse an internship. 

“While the verdict in Kenosha will leave many Americans feeling angry and concerned, myself included, we must acknowledge that the jury has spoken,” President Biden said in a statement following the verdict.