Clipsheet

Ultimately, the case will be decided by the jury based on their assessment of the reasonableness of Mr. Rittenhouse’s actions, said Cecelia Klingele, an associate professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Law School.

Keith Findley, a law professor at the University of Wisconsin and a former public defender, said that while the order is more of a “defense-friendly position,” it’s not entirely unjustified, because it would “allow the prosecution to continually use language that suggests a conclusion as if it’s a given fact to jurors.”

Findley explained the judge is differentiating the facts of the case from the questions the jury must answer. Since Rittenhouse is claiming he acted in self-defense, the question is not who shot three people, killing two of them, but rather if Rittenhouse was justified in defending himself out of fear of bodily harm. If his lawyers can show he had reason to believe the men were each engaged in activities such as looting, rioting and arson at the time, that could sway the jury to accept Rittenhouse’s defense.

“You know, there are a lot of downstream decisions that need to be made,” said Margie Rosenberg, professor of risk and insurance at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She said this is where calculating costs starts to involve some prediction, planning and math.