Kyle Rittenhouse attorney Mark Richards said his client regrets going to Kenosha, Wisconsin the night he fatally shot two people and wounded another in August 2020.
Richards argued that Rittenhouse acted in self-defense. On Friday, a jury in Kenosha acquitted Rittenhouse on all counts. Hours later, the attorney spoke with Chris Cuomo.
Cuomo noted the fact that Rittenhouse has testified in his own defense — a “risky” move, as the CNN host put it.
“How difficult a call was it?” he asked Richards.
“We felt as though we had a witness, a client, who could tell his story,” answered Richards. “He was articulate, fairly intelligent. He didn’t have any damage. He didn’t have prior convictions or never been in trouble. He was a police cadet, fire cadet, pro social. We thought he could do it. There was obviously a lot of work that went into it.”
Richards explained the defense team did mock juries and found that Rittenhouse actually scored worse among jurors who did not hear him tell his side of the story.
“And that made the decision, I don’t want to say easy, but it made it the right call,” he said.
“Does he wish he hadn’t gone that night?” asked Cuomo.
“A hundred times over,” Richards replied. “I’ve had talks — Kyle said, ‘If I had to do it all over again
Cuomo followed up by asking, “Does he think he did anything wrong?”
“Legally, no,” came the response.
“Morally?” asked Cuomo.
“He wishes he didn’t have to do it,” said Richards. “But, you know, this case, as you said, as been so political, so yes or no. The narrative that came out was not the truth. At trial, it did come out. He had lived in that community. He had worked in that community. His family, his dad, his grandmother, aunts, uncles lived in that community. He spent a lot of time there. He went down there earlier in the day to help clean up graffiti, do those things. And when he was asked to help out at Car Source, he went.”
Watch above via CNN.