Kyle Rittenhouse defense accuses prosecutors of withholding key video

The legal counsel for Kyle Rittenhouse accused prosecutors of holding back important video footage at the center of their case in a formal motion for a mistrial.

Rittenhouse’s defense filed a formal seven-page request just an hour before closing arguments on Monday. The prosecutors have been accused of holding back high-resolution drone footage that had been used to suggest that Rittenhouse was the aggressor when he had claimed self-defense before the first shooting.

Instead, prosecutors gave the defense a low-res version of the video in a 3.6MB file, which was difficult to see. The file was less than a third of the high-res file they actually possessed, according to the motion, and the better quality clip, which had already been used by prosecutors, was only given to the defense on Saturday after testimony had concluded. 

“The video footage has been at the center of this case,” the motion states, calling it the “linchpin” in their case. “The failure to provide the same quality footage in this particular case is intentional and clearly prejudices the defendant.”

The motion included some of the prosecutors’ missteps that Judge Bruce Schroeder already called out, which noted mentioning evidence they’d been told not to use and additionally commenting on Rittenhouse’s right to silence. The motion argues that any conviction should be overruled, and it seeks to forbid any chance of retrial if Rittenhouse is cleared of the five felonies he faces.

Jury deliberation began on Tuesday, when all 12 jurors spent the entire day in discussion without reaching a decision. Rittenhouse is currently facing life in prison if he is convicted for using an AR-style semi-automatic rifle to fatally shoot Joseph Rosenbaum and Anthony Huber. He also wounded Gaige Grosskreutz during the BLM riots in Kenosha, Wisconsin on August 26, when he was just 17-years-old.