Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion

Welcome to today’s Law of Self Defense ongoing coverage of the Kyle Rittenhouse trial. I am, of course, Attorney Andrew Branca, for Law of Self Defense. Today the trial finally got off to the races, with the jury hearing the opening statements of both the state and the defense. The jury also heard their first witness testimony in this case, from the state’s initial three witnesses.

Welcome back to the launch of our live coverage of the trial of Kyle Rittenhouse, beginning today with the start of jury selection. Kyle is charged with a variety of felonies, including first-degree murder, for shooting three men, two fatally, as well as for alleged reckless conduct on the night of August 25, 2020, in riot-torn Kenosha WI.

Welcome to the Law of Self Defense ongoing coverage of the Kyle Rittenhouse trial! I am, of course, Attorney Andrew Branca, for Law of Self Defense.  Good news, the Kyle Rittenhouse trial is finally underway, with voir dire, or jury selection, having begun this morning. UPDATE: Between when I started writing this post and when it was published, media reports are that individual voir dire completed today off-camera, and opening statements will happen tomorrow morning! Highlights of today’s voir dire include:

• The defense voir dire suggesting that Kyle Rittenhouse might testify at trial
• Judge Schroeder contextualizing juror security concerns by noting that even judges hardly ever get assassinated
• A juror excused because Second Amendment beliefs would not allow impartiality
• A juror excused because hatred of AR rifles would not allow impartiality
• A juror excused because she understood “Thou shalt not kill” to be literal
• Judge Schroeder instructing jurors on “semi-automatic” versus “machine gun”
• And much, much more! So let’s dive right in!