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Prosecutors and defense attorneys took turns having a detective point Kyle Rittenhouse's AR-15 at them in court

Michelle Mark   

Prosecutors and defense attorneys took turns having a detective point Kyle Rittenhouse's AR-15 at them in court
International2 min read
  • A forensic pathologist testified Tuesday in Kyle Rittenhouse's homicide trial about the autopsies he conducted.
  • He testified that Joseph Rosenbaum was hit by four bullets, including two to his back and head.

Both prosecutors and defense attorneys in Kyle Rittenhouse's homicide trial took turns having a detective point the teenager's AR-15 rifle at them in an unusual courtroom demonstration on Tuesday.

The demonstrations occurred during the testimony of a forensic pathologist, Dr. Douglas Kelley of the Milwaukee County Medical Examiner's Office, who explained to the jury that 36-year-old Joseph Rosenbaum had been shot four times by a gun at close range - within just four feet.

Rittenhouse is charged with fatally shooting Rosenbaum and Anthony Huber, and injuring Gaige Grosskreutz on August 25, 2020, amid civil unrest in Kenosha.

The first shots went into Rosenbaum's groin, hand, and thigh while he faced forward, and the final two shots went into his head and back at a downward angle as he turned horizontally to Rittenhouse, Kelley testified.

Prosecutors suggested that the angle of the final two shots meant that Rosenbaum was falling while he was shot, while Rittenhouse's defense attorneys argued that the angle of the shots meant that Rosenbaum was lunging at Rittenhouse. Kelley said both scenarios were possible.

Amid Kelley's testimony, Assistant District Attorney James Kraus asked Kenosha detective Ben Antaramian to bring Rittenhouse's rifle up to the witness stand so that Kelley could confirm the positioning of Rittenhouse and Rosenbaum during the shooting.

"I'm going to ask Detective Antaramian to point the gun at me," Krause announced.

Judge Bruce Schroeder, in an effort to ensure the rifle was not loaded, urged Antaramian to "check it again, check it again."

Krause suggested to Kelley that Rosenbaum had been falling and brushing the barrel of Rittenhouse's gun away.

"Is it consistent - if I'm approaching the detective and I'm stuck in my hip, fracturing my hip - that I would fall, reach out with my hand, and try to knock the gun away?" Krause said.

"That's a possibility," Kelley said.

But Rittenhouse's lead defense attorney, Mark Richards, characterized the moment differently. He asked Kelley to confirm that Rittenhouse's initial shot wouldn't have caused Rosenbaum to fall forward, which Kelley agreed with.

"Mr. Rosenbaum already had to have forward momentum at a force to go from the zero-shot to the second shot in 2.26 hundredths of a second to be in contact with, or right on top of that barrel, correct?" Richards said.

"Yes, he had forward momentum," Kelley responded.

Kelley also agreed with Richards that there was no evidence to suggest that Rosenbaum had been holding his hands in the air in surrender.

"So, once again, the position of lunging would put you in a horizontal position, correct?" Richards said.

"Correct," Kelley said.

A videographer who witnessed the shooting, Richie McGinniss, testified last week that he saw Rosenbaum chasing Rittenhouse into the lot of a car dealership, then lunging for Rittenhouse's gun.

"It was very clear to me that he was reaching specifically for the weapon, because that's where his hands went," McGinniss testified, referring to Rosenbaum. "The rifle was lower than where his hands were, so his hands were going down… Kyle Rittenhouse dodged around it, and then leveled the weapon, and fired."

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