Tuesday's court proceedings in the trial of Kyle Rittenhouse have come to a close with a major development. Judge Bruce Schroeder dismissed a curfew citation charge against the teenage shooter. Rittenhouse's attorneys argued that there was no definitive curfew set in the town of Kenosha, Wisconsin on the night that he shot at a number of protesters and Schroeder agreed.
Beyond the dismissal of a curfew citation charge, Rittenhouse's attorneys attempted to argue that he was not the aggressor at a protest that followed the shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin last summer. Instead, Rittenhouse's attorneys claim that he acted in self-defense while shooting at Joseph Rosenbaum, Anthony Huber and Gaige Grosskreutz. To support their argument, the defense questioned the lone survivor of the incident, Gaige Grosskreutz.
During his testimony, much attention was paid to Grosskreutz's admission that Rittenhouse did not start shooting at him until he "advanced on him with [his] gun." From then on, the defense portrayed him as the aggressor in that particular situation.
"When you were standing three to five feet from him with your arms up in the air, he never fired, right?" defense attorney Corey Chirafisi asked, according to CNN.
"Correct," Grosskreutz answered, according to CNN.
"It wasn't until you pointed your gun at him, advanced on him with your gun -- now your hand is down pointed at him -- that he fired, right?" Chirafisi followed up.
"Correct," he replied.
In addition to questioning Grosskreutz, the defense reportedly examined the actions of Rosenbaum, a man that Rittenhouse shot and killed last summer. According to CNN, the defense has presented a video in which Rosenbaum shouted, "shoot me n----."
"He goes, 'You know, If I catch any of you guys alone tonight, I'm gonna f------ kill you,'" Ryan Balch, who was in Kenosha on the night of the shooting, said about Rosenbaum.
Hours before Rittenhouse shot and killed Rosenbaum, Rosenbaum's fiancée Kariann Swart testifies that he was released from the hospital. She also mentioned that he was on medication to treat bipolar disorder. By the time Rittenhouse and Rosenbaum interacted, the defense claims he was acting erratically and attempted to lunge at him. As a result, the defense claims Rittenhouse was justified in shooting Rosenbaum as he approached him.
"The only time during the interaction in which he could have incurred the gunshot wounds to the back and to the right side of the head was when he was more horizontal, and the only time that happens is the last two gunshot wounds," Dr. Douglas Kelley of the Milwaukee County Medical Examiner's Office described the manner in which Rosenbaum was shot.
"The first two gunshot wounds are represented by the injury to the groin and the injury to the left thigh."
The prosecution has officially rested its case and the defense will present its case moving forward.
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