In That Case

Today were the closing arguments in the Rittenhouse case, where a 17-year-old boy shot three people in self-defense in late summer 2020 during riots in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

Defense Attorney Mark Richards during closing arguments, November 15, 2021
(Defense Attorney Binger seated in the background)
screenshot from the Rekieta Law livestream

There are so many people who can talk about guns with more authority than I can. But I understand enough to know that this case has broader implications, because it puts self-defense on trial.

In the closing argument rebuttal today, the prosecution said some truly crazy things. Like, we all know what it’s like to get beat up sometimes. You should expect that. It’s not something you should kill somebody over. So, getting hit in the head with a rock and a skateboard and being attacked by somebody with a Glock in hand (a “small” gun, not a big scary one like an AR-15) is not enough; any reasonable person would wait until bodily harm was inflicted before using a firearm that could actually kill someone.

There’s plenty to say about the couple of weeks that have been shown to the jury. But it’s in their hands now, and we’re likely to hear a result by tomorrow.

If the result is a guilty verdict (unlikely), we could expect an appeal based on a mistrial, because there were enough causes for that before it went to jury.

This may be the most clear-cut case of self-defense in history. It should not have been brought to trial. But this case isn’t about law or justice; it is about political posturing.

I’ve been mostly following daily reports from Robert Gruler and Viva & Barnes. Today I watched large portions of the closing arguments—on Nick Rekieta’s livestream. He has been doing those daily. Today there were over 700,000 people watching his livestream when I tuned in, which shared the PBS livestream (because some other stream was more technologically unreliable) while he and a panel of law vloggers commented as they watched. When I checked that video again tonight, over 900,000 had watched. That in itself is kind of a phenomenon. Here are the 9+ hours of video from today.

·       “Kyle Rittenhouse Trial Monday LIVE - CLOSING ARGUMENTS” Rekieta Law livestream, November 15, 2021. 

screenshot of the panel of law vloggers following the closing arguments
on Nick Rekieta's livestream, November 15, 2021

Something to keep in mind is that the mainstream story has very little resemblance to what actually happened that night, or probably to what the prosecution claimed happened. Video and testimony, even of prosecution witnesses, shows that Kyle Rittenhouse retreated, avoided firing until the final moments, with more composure and bravery than many older people with much more experience. He did not provoke. He was attacked. He had reason to fear for his life. And a reasonable person would see that he is innocent. One of those he shot, who sustained a serious arm injury, testified that Rittenhouse didn’t shoot him until he drew his gun on Rittenhouse. The trial should have ended right there.

One of the many observers of the trial, billionaire Bill Ackman, a lifelong Democrat, watched the trial and realized the media story had been false. He said so in a series of tweets, and the response he got was, “Did someone hack your account?” In a fair world, the natural response would be, “Hmm. Maybe I should watch for myself.” Here’s that story:

·       “Billionaire Bill Ackman shows that 'the truth shall make you free'” by Andrea Widburg for American Thinker, November 15, 2021. 

You can watch (or rewatch) the daily coverage from Nick Rekieta at Rekieta Law on YouTube. But for the daily briefings, I recommend Robert Gruler and Viva Frei or Viva & Barnes—all of whom popped in on Rekieta’s panel today. Robert Barnes had been volunteering to help with the defense. He was set to help with jury selectionas were the guys from the Behavior Panel, world-renowned body-language experts. But the defense team at the last minute rejected all help. Not good. And there were times during the trial it looked like they should have paid better attention. But the closing argument today was quite good. Anyway, here are a few highlights from the past week or so:

·       Robert Gruler “Rittenhouse Trial Day 11 Recap: Closing Arguments Review” November 15, 2021. 

·       Viva & Barnes “Rittenhouse Closing Arguments RECAP” November 15, 2021. 

·       Viva & Barnes “Ep. 87: Rittenhouse; Arbery; Bannon; O'Keefe; Baldwin; Astroworld & MORE!” November 14, 2021. 

·       Viva Frei Vlawg “Rittenhouse Trial Final Day —, Rejection & Projection” November 12, 2021. 

·       Robert Gruler “Rittenhouse Trial Day 9 Recap: Defense Rests, Use of Force Dr. Black, Drew H Live, Video Evidence” November 11, 2021. 

·       Robert Gruler “Rittenhouse Trial Day 8 Recap: KYLE TESTIFIES!” November 10, 2021. 

·       Robert Gruler “Rittenhouse Trial Day 6 Recap: Gaige Grosskreutz Direct & Cross Exam, Crime Lab, Kenosha PD” November 8, 2021. 

Viva Frei (left) and Robert Barnes during their recap
after closing arguments, November 15, 2021
screenshot from here

The most interesting testimonies, to me, were Gaige Grosskreutz, with the mic-drop moment when he admitted under oath that Rittenhouse didn’t shoot until Grosskreutz aimed his gun at him; and Kyle’s testimony. He didn’t have to testify. The evidence was all in his favor. It was risky. But he handled it pretty well. He did break down near the beginning—evidence of PTSD, which Barnes later verified he is being treated for. After recomposing, he held up very well. Not flawlessly, but good enough.

There were times during closing arguments when the prosecution was creating the story of what Kyle was thinking—at each of which the defense should have said, “Objection: mind-reading”—but that Kyle’s own testimony had explained. His testimony always coincided with video and other witnesses. So, for those of us watching, and maybe for the jury, it was somewhat satisfying to hear from him. But it shouldn’t have been necessary.

We’ll have more answers on the Rittenhouse case tomorrow. It has been a painful trial for everyone who believes we have a God-given right to self-defense. The panel today, after the end of closing arguments, was guessing what would happen tomorrow. About half guessed it would be a hung jury—not because the evidence didn’t show that Rittenhouse clearly acted in self-defense, but because the jury will be afraid of reprisal if their identity becomes known. Or they don't want to be blamed for the outbreak of more riots. Or possibly because there will be a holdout jury member who already had prejudice against Rittenhouse and is disregarding all the evidence.

If that happens, I think it will not be retried; it will be dismissed, maybe on some Friday afternoon news dump. I don’t know. Maybe the judge could call it a mistrial, which he could have done, based on prosecutorial misbehavior. I can’t see it proceeding forward with us all going through this again. But maybe I’m naïve.

I’m encouraged that there were so many people paying attention. It is a certain kind of person who listens to Rekieta and the other law vloggers: people interested in law and order. Other sorts might tune in directly to the PBS livestream or other sources. But it was nearly a quarter of a million people today. Viva Frei has been commenting frequently on how the number of watchers has been growing daily during the trial. It’s a phenomenon. And it is a metric that means something good for our country.

I hope things go well for Rittenhouse tomorrow, because that is something good for him personally, and also good for justice. Eventually I believe things will be made right for him, whatever happens. And enough of us care about law and order that we won’t lose our rights to apathy.

So, long live the rule of law!