Rittenhouse’s lawyers moved for a mistrial with prejudice, meaning charges could not be refiled against him, after the prosecution questioned Rittenhouse over his right to remain silent after the shooting – a potential constitutional violation – as well as bringing up an incident that the judge had earlier said was not includable.
Judge Bruce Schroeder ordered the jury out of the room in order to admonish the prosecution over their decision to make the legal errors while cross-examining Rittenhouse, who began testimony on Wednesday morning.
Rittenhouse faces charges including murder for shooting three men, killing two, during an altercation at racial justice riots in Kenosha, Wisconsin in August 2020.
Rittenhouse’s legal team had threatened to call for a mistrial with prejudice earlier in the day following the first instance of prosecutorial misconduct. They called for it after multiple instances.
Schroeder took the motion under advisement, meaning that he will refrain from making a decision on whether to declare a mistrial for now, and warned the prosecution that there better not be another such incident.