INDIANAPOLIS — On Friday, a Wisconsin jury acquitted Kyle Rittenhouse on all charges in connection with a shooting that became a flashpoint in the gun debate, vigilantism and racial injustice.
Rittenhouse mounted a self-defense case in the trial over the deadly shooting of two people and the wounding of a third in Kenosha in the summer of 2020.
13News anchor Scott Swan asked Indianapolis criminal defense attorney James Voyles, who was not involved in the Kenosha case, to weigh in on Friday's acquittal.
13News: How risky was it to put Kyle Rittenhouse on the witness stand and have him testify in his own defense?
Voyles: "It's always risky any time you put a client on the stand. You kind of hold your breath to make sure...you got to do a lot of prep with them, because it's going to be their one and only chance to tell their story."
13News: Prosecutors portrayed him as a "wannabe soldier" who went looking for trouble that night and was creating a dangerous situation by pointing his rifle at demonstrators. What did you think of that argument?
Voyles: "The jury seemed to look beyond that and listened to what Mr. Rittenhouse said on the stand, looked at the videos and arrived at the conclusion that they thought was self-defense in this particular case."
13News: I wonder what you think of that drone video and did that play a role?
Voyles: "I think it's important in defending somebody here in Indiana - we're required to disclose all the evidence that we have gathered - the state's required to do the same thing. But it's a new technology. It's important. We've got something we can use to help the jurors understand the case, we should use it."
13News: Could this case and this verdict we saw Friday have any impact on future cases that we might see here in Indiana?
Voyles: "I don't know. Our self-defense might not be mirrored to what's happening in any other state, so you have to be careful. Any defense case that's tried, you have to be able to say the defendant can take the stand, can articulate the fear he had at the time he used the weapon. Those are cases you have to look at very carefully."
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