Kyle Rittenhouse, the Illinois teen charged with killing two people during a protest in Kenosha last summer, will not go on trial until Nov.
Kyle Rittenhouse, the Illinois teen charged with killing two people during a protest in Kenosha last summer, will not go on trial until Nov. 1, CBS News reported.
The teen, who has remained free on $2 million bond despite prosecution allegations that he had violated the terms of his release, was originally set to go on trial on March 29, according to prosecutors.
"There are a number of outstanding issues with discovery, DNA testing, and some other issues that need to be taken care of. There are also some logistics with regards to the eventual jury that need to be hammered out," Kenosha County Assistant District Attorney Thomas Binger said Thursday.
The lawyer representing Rittenhouse agreed to push back the trial and Rittenhouse himself had no objection, CBS reported.
The final pretrial hearing ahead of the official trial will take place May 17.
Prosecutors recently called for the re-arrest of Rittenhouse after prosecutors say they couldn't locate the teen. They called for his arrest or an increase in bond for allegedly breaking his terms of release, according to reports.
It was later discovered that the 18-year-old has been staying at an "undisclosed safe house" after receiving numerous death threats following his November release, according to reports.
Judge Bruce Schroeder denied the motion at a virtual hearing on Feb. 11. The hearing saw statements made by the man who survived being shot by Rittenhouse and the father of one of the people killed by Rittenhouse, the Washington Post reported.
Schroeder said Rittenhouse did in fact fail to keep the court apprised of his residence, but noted his release conditions required him to provide the court with his address, but do not require him to actually reside there.
“To issue a warrant now for a defendant that has appeared at every hearing would be breaking the law and I’m not going to do it,” Schroeder said, the Post reported.
Lawyers for Rittenhouse said that they originally offered to disclose the teen's new address so long as prosecutors kept it a secret, but they refused to keep that information private, the Chicago Tribune reported.
The hearing came several days after news broke that John Pierce, who had once been Rittenhouse's criminal attorney, would no longer be representing him in civil matters. Another Los Angeles attorney, Robert Barnes, is set to take his place. He was not available for comment Thursday.
“Kyle is a terrific young man and is totally innocent. 100% perfect self-defense. It was the most gratifying moment of my professional life to reunite him with his mother," John Pierce wrote in an email to Inside Edition Digital. "I wish him and his family and the amazing criminal defense team I built for him in Wisconsin the very best, and I look forward to the acquittal. It will be a great day for Kyle, the right of self-defense, the Second Amendment and America.”
Mark Richards, the criminal attorney, told reporters that Pierce is the one who moved Rittenhouse from his previous location, NBC News reported.
"While completing paperwork related to Kyle’s release, Attorney Pierce was directly informed by a high-ranking member of the Kenosha Police Department not to provide the address of the Rittenhouse Safe House because of the numerous threats made against Kyle and his family," Richards wrote in a response filed earlier this month. Kenosha police said that while a police captain did speak with Pierce "regarding security concerns raised by Mr. Pierce, surrounding the Kyle Rittenhouse release from custody," the captain didn't provide "instructions about how to fill out paperwork," NBC reported.
Rittenhouse is facing charges stemming from the Kenosha protests that broke out in August after an officer shot Jacob Blake, a Black man, multiple times. Rittenhouse is charged with two counts of first-degree homicide and one count of attempted homicide for the deaths of Joseph Rosenbaum and Anthony Huber and injuring Giage Grosskreutz.
Rittenhouse who was 17 at the time, has claimed self-defense.
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