Kyle Rittenhouse Appears At His First Preliminary Hearing

KENOSHA, Wis. -Kyle Rittenhouse attended his first preliminary hearing on Dec. 3, through a zoom call. The state is charging Rittenhouse with killing two protestors at a Kenosha protest. 

The Preliminary hearing started by addressing the motion to dismiss counts two and six against Rittenhouse, filed by Attorney Mark Richards. Richards says that they should dismiss count six because his client situation does not include the weapons mentioned in count six. 

“948.60 only applies to people armed with the short barrel rifle or shotgun is the first exclusion,” said Richards. “There is nothing in the criminal complaint alleging that this is a short-barreled shotgun or a rifle.” 

Richards says that 948.63 applies to hunting and does not apply to Rittenhouse because he was not hunting on August 25. He goes so far as to say the states are going against Rittenhouse’s second amendment.  

In response, the District Attorney Thomas Binger said that it is ‘form over substance’ that Rittenhouse had a dangerous weapon. He says it will be better for the jury to decide if anything that happened on the night of Aug. 25 is transactionally related to the statute.  

“There is a substation legal basis for the comp six and this is we don’t allow teenagers to run around with guns,” said Binger. “Any person under 18 who possesses or goes armed with a dangerous weapon is guilty of a class A misdemeanor.” 

The prosecution says there is no dispute in this case because Rittenhouse armed himself with an AR-15 at the age of 17 years old. In the end court official Loren Keating decided that he will deny the motion to dismiss count 6.   

Keating said he read the statute, and a dangerous weapon is defined as any firearm loaded or unloaded. He continues to say that there is no question that Rittenhouse was under the age of 18 at the time of the shooting.  

Richards goes on to his second motion of count 2, which talks about endangering the safety of Richard McGinnis. McGinnis is a trained medic that was present at the shooting. Richards goes on to say that the gun that was in Rittenhouse’s possession was not pointed at McGinnis. Richards said that in the criminal complaint, McGinnis never said anything about his life being endangered. 

Binger starts his argument by saying that the criminal complaint does state the weapon was pointed at McGinnis. 

“McGinnis said that when the first round went off, he thought it hit the pavement. McGinnis felt something on his leg,” said Binger “McGinnis was behind and slightly to the right of Rosenbaum in the line of fire when the defendant shot him. 

In defense, Richards says that this statement did not come from McGinnis; it is what the state has concluded. Richards points out that the paragraph is a conclusion allegation from the criminal complaint.  

“In this case when you discharge, or it’s alleged that this defendant discharged a firearm in a crowded urban environment one could argue that’s inherently dangerous,” said Keating. “Issues whether or not that was in self-defense or otherwise are for trial.” 

Keating denied Richards’s second motion because Rittenhouse’s actions did not only endanger McGinnis but the people around them.  

The Zoom meeting continued onto the witness section, where the state involved the detective who oversees the case. From here, the Preliminary hearing does not give any more information than the criminal complaint.   

Richards uses photo evidence to help the detective answer his questions. The questions revolve around if Rittenhouse’s life was in danger. Binger objects and reminds him that this preliminary hearing is not a trial and can’t be used to persuade anyone to think Rittenhouse’s actions were self-defense.  

The next Preliminary hearing will take place on January 5, 2020. 

If you want more information on what is happening with the Kyle Rittenhouse case, you can look here for more information.