CNN Legal Analyst Praises Rittenhouse Prosecutor’s Closing Argument: ‘People Can Generally Understand’ Him, Unlike the Judge
CNN legal analyst Paul Callan on Monday praised the prosecution in the trial of Kyle Rittenhouse, where closing arguments has been underway.
Rittenhouse was 17 years old when he shot three men, killing two, during riots in Kenosha, Wisconsin, last year after the police shooting of Jacob Blake, a Black man. Rittenhouse is facing multiple charges related to the shootings. Rittenhouse’s attorneys have argued that Rittenhouse was acting in self-defense, while the prosecution has claimed otherwise. On Monday, the judge, Bruce Schroeder, dismissed the charge of Rittenhouse being a minor possessing a firearm.
When asked by CNN anchor John King how the prosecutor, Thomas Binger, has been performing in presenting his closing arguments, Callan praised Binger while taking a shot at Schroeder.
“I think he’s doing reasonably well. I mean, he’s doing is something that the judge didn’t do, which is speaking in a way that people can generally understand. I find that his contention about [Joseph] Rosenbaum is kind of implausible on its face,” said Callan, referring to Rittenhouse’s first victim, who was killed.
“I mean, he’s really saying that, you know, Rosenbaum, first of all, never threatened to kill. We haven’t heard basis of that,” he continued. “Of course, throughout the trial so far, witnesses have said that Rosenbaum said I’m going to kill you, I’m going to kill you, and he had also threatened earlier that he would cut somebody’s heart out who was close to Rittenhouse. So we’ll have to hear what he says in summation about that.”
Callan noted that Binger was “contending that this chase that caused Rittenhouse to run should not have placed [Rosenbaum] in fear of his life and he makes a big deal about him running toward these cars.”
He continued.
I think that the defense is going to turn that around on him substantially when they sum up and say that he was in fear of Rosenbaum and he only turned around when he felt he had to.
The other thing is I think with respect to the four shots, I mean, he did a very, very good job of breaking it down and making it seem like he fired once and then he fired again and again and there was time for him to contemplate in between the shots as to the need for another shot because the pelvis had been fractured.
Well, of course, he didn’t know that the pelvis had been fractured. He just knew he fired one shot and all four of those shots are apparently fired while Rosenbaum wag flying through the air in .76 seconds, less than a second. So the argument sounds good until you start to analyze it and then it doesn’t sound as persuasive.
In conclusion, Callan said that Binger has been “articulate.”
“He’s doing the best he can with a weak set of facts, but we’ll have to see how the defense responds,” he said.
Watch above, via CNN.
