One of the men fatally shot by Kyle Rittenhouse was in a “horizontal” position, a forensic pathologist told Wisconsin jurors Tuesday, suggesting the victim wasn’t a threat when he was gunned down.
Dr. Doug Kelley, a forensic pathologist with the Milwaukee County Medical Examiner, detailed the fatal gun shots suffered by Anthony Huber, 26, and Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, during an Aug. 25, 2020, protest of the police shooting of Jacob Blake.
Assistant District Attorney James Kraus sought to paint Rosenbaum’s killing as particularly egregious as he was “falling or perpendicular” when fatal shots were fired.
“The back-to-front shots to the head and then the kill shot to the back would have been as he was falling or perpendicular to the ground?” Kraus asked.
The doctor agreed.
“The only way that the trajectories of the gunshot wounds to the right side of the head and the back make sense is if he’s more horizontal to the ground and that is occurring at the time the last two gunshot wounds are heard on the video,” Kelley responded.
But defense attorney Mark Richards implied that Rosenbaum could have still been a threat to his client, who squeezed off the four shots against that victim in .76 of a second.
Richards stood in front of the witness, put his head down and feigned an aggressive rush toward the doctor.
“So if I was charging like a bull and diving, that would be consistent” with the wounds suffered by Rosenbaum, Richards asked.
“That would be,” Kelley responded.
Rittenhouse and at least one juror appeared to be unnerved by grim autopsy photos.
As Kraus put the disturbing images on an overhead screen for Dr. Kelley’s testimony, Rittenhouse again turned away or looked down to avoid looking at them.
At least one juror, kept looking forward but clearly closed her eyes as pictures of Huber on a coroner’s table were shown in the Kenosha courtroom.
Nov. 9, 202101:57
Rittenhouse and scores of other people were on the streets of Kenosha after the shooting of Blake, a Black man, by a white police officer on Aug. 23, 2020.
The unrest in Kenosha drew Rittenhouse, then 17, across state lines, where he is alleged to have taken the AR-15-style semi-automatic rifle to protests.
Kenosha is about 20 miles northeast of Rittenhouse’s home in Antioch, Illinois, and 40 miles south of Milwaukee.
Rittenhouse has been charged with homicide and being a minor in possession of a firearm. A charge against him for violating curfew was dismissed on Tuesday.
The prosecution rested its case on Tuesday afternoon.
This is a developing story. Please refresh here for updates.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
