Jury instructions give Rittenhouse judge another chance to shape how case plays out

Prosecutors and defense attorneys in the Kyle Rittenhouse trial will finalize instructions for the jury before they begin their deliberations next week.

Rittenhouse's attorneys rested their defense case Thursday after a little more than two days of testimony, after prosecutors presented five days, in a trial where the defendant took the stand to tell jurors that he acted in self-defense when he used an AR-15 rifle to kill two men and wound a third while roaming the streets of Kenosha during racial protests in summer 2020, reported the Associated Press.

"Jury instructions will be worked out on Friday, and closing arguments are expected on Monday," the AP reported. "After closing arguments, names will be drawn to decide which 12 jurors will deliberate and which ones will be dismissed as alternates. Eighteen people have been hearing the case. The panel appeared overwhelmingly white."

Prosecutors will ask Circuit Judge Bruce Schroeder to allow jurors to consider possible lesser charges on some of the counts, which could include the intentional homicide and attempted intentional homicide charges.

Rittenhouse, then 17 years old, fatally shot Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, in one confrontation and moments later shot and killed Anthony Huber, 26, and wounded Gaige Grosskreutz, 27.

Now 18, Rittenhouse testified that he heard a gunshot directly behind him as he was being chased by Rosenbaum, which investigators said was actually fired by someone else in the crowd.

Schroeder will decide how to instruct jurors to conduct their deliberations, and which charges they may consider, after hearing arguments from attorneys on each side, but the jury will not be present for those discussions.

The judge has drawn widespread criticism for refusing to allow prosecutors to call the men Rittenhouse shot victims, and he erupted at the prosecution for asking a question about evidence he had ruled impermissible in the trial.

Rittenhouse was with first-degree intentional homicide, attempted first-degree intentional homicide, first-degree reckless homicide, reckless endangering and illegal possession of a weapon by a person under 18.

Allowing jurors to consider lesser charges is generally believed to make obtaining a conviction easier.