Defense Lawyer Says Kyle Rittenhouse Is 'in Therapy' & 'Has PTSD' as a 'Result of This Incident'

[left-of-center2012]

An attorney for Kyle Rittenhouse on Friday indicated outside the presence of the jury that his client has PTSD as a result of the deadly shootings in Kenosha, Wis., on Aug. 25, 2020.

Mark Richards, the attorney, made the revelation as
Judge Bruce Schroeder asked Rittenhouse whether he agreed that the jury should be allowed to consider lesser included offenses for some of the crimes charged. During a lengthy and meandering hearing on Friday, defense attorneys objected to some, but not all, of the lesser included offenses prosecutors offered in the case against Rittenhouse.
The judge agreed to jettison some, but not all, of the proffered lesser included offenses.

(Why does a defendant get to decide what charges his jury will consider?)

“Have you ever been treated for a mental or emotional disorder?” Schroeder asked (Rittenhouse). Rather than immediately answer “yes,” as he had done to other questions, Rittenhouse turned to speak to his attorney. Judge Schroeder cut in before any explanation was forthcoming to say that the “more important question” was whether there was “any reason” to “be concerned” that the defendant had “some kind of disability, mental or emotional, that would prevent Rittenhouse from being fully aware of what your options are and making a rational decision.”

“His pause,” Richards said, “was, I believe, because he’s in therapy. I don’t think he has a mental illness or anything. As a result of this incident, he has PTSD.”

https://lawandcrime.com/live-trials/live-trials-current/kyle-rittenhouse/defense-lawyer-says-kyle-rittenhouse-is-in-therapy-and-has-ptsd-as-a-result-of-this-incident/

[HubertHeaver]

1. Perhaps he needs in-patient care. I understand the

Feds have some really nice places. Since Alcatraz is closed, they could consider Marion, Il. Just south on I-57.

[Casady1]

2. his victims

don't need any therapy they are dead.

[liberalla]

3. So he's in therapy and has PTSD? Aw... that's rough. At least he's still breathing.

[BoomaofBandM]

4. I'm sure hanging out in bars with proud boys is helpful.

It sickens me when false claims like this are made. Too many people have legit mental illnesses.

[catbyte]

5. Give me a goddamned break.

PTSD. The little punk just had to cross state lines to be The Big Man and wave around his big big gun. And WTF was wrong with his mother giving him a ride to a riot? I know that defendants are entitled to a defense, but damn...

[MustLoveBeagles]

6. His mother didn't drive him there

But yeah, I'm not buying PTSD claim either.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

12. Wrong. Do not spread disinformation. Or did you just become aware of Rittenhouse?

Please self-delete your post.

For months now, DU members have been trying to put out fires of disinformation about this particular point and the other one.

1. She did NOT drive him there. He drove himself there (apparently without a drivers license). She went and fetched him after his panicked phone call.

2. He did not transport a gun across state lines. (You did not claim that, but it had to be debunked many times.)

But it's okay if you haven't been paying attention. Just don't spread it any more.

[Hoyt]

7. Therapy is a bit late. But hope it helps his sorry-ass.

[Sympthsical]

8. The answer to your parenthetical

The reason the judge was asking Rittenhouse for consent and his mental state in giving it is because it involved the consideration of lesser charges.

Basically, think of the verdict as a gamble. Do you want to go all or nothing with the murder charges, or do you want to hedge your bets and put the option of lesser charges on the table?

It has to do with the jury. Do you think the jury is thinking, "Oh yeah, totally self-defense. All murder stuff dismissed." Or, do you think the jury is sitting there going, "It feels like we should convict him of something. He shouldn't have been there to begin with, so there should be some kind of consequences." It allows for more of a split verdict. Won't get him on the big stuff, but maybe they can do some smaller things.

So during jury instructions, Rittenhouse's attorneys can agree with the prosecution and the judge to put that "something" on the table. The prosecution will want it if they feel their case is going poorly. The defense will if they're hedging against the jury. But they need the consent of the defendant to do it.

That was my understanding of that entire exchange.

[Doodley]

9. He won't be found guilty of even the lesser crimes as long as there's a Trump/gun nut on the jury.

[Skittles]

10. he's a double-murdering piece of shit

I don't think someone with PTSD would have to fake tears. Fuck that fascist bastard to hell and back.

[Meowmee]

16. This

[global1]

11. His PTSD Is Called - A Guilty Conscience.....

He knows what he did. He knows the self-defense claim is a lie. He's browning his pants because he knows he could very well serve the rest of his life in jail.

[jimfields33]

18. His brain doesn't develop fully until 25. Life in prison?

Do we allow that anymore? I thought that was found to be too much in this country.

[xmas74]

21. Only if you're a white male.

Black,Hispanic? Life in prison at any age,if not the death penalty.

[musette_sf]

13. 🙄🙄🙄

[Progressive Jones]

14. I hope this murderer is increasingly mentally tormented for the rest of his life.

I don't care if he's ever "fixed".

[Skittles]

25. he is a white supremacist

he feels no shame

[Captain Zero]

15. He may indeed have PTSD now. I'd bet money he has had a personality disorder all along

before this all happened.
So now he has PTSD on top.

Most people with personality disorders need to develop coping skills.
If they don't they develop dysfunctional coping skills
like buying high powered weaponry and attending riots.
Where they murder people.

His mother should have had him in therapy long ago instead of buying him a gun.
And now he is caught up in the legal system. Because consequences.

[Yarnie]

20. She didn't buy him the gun.

She didn't drive him to Kenosha.

He didn't transport the gun over state lines.

[xmas74]

24. She didn't buy him the gun.

He used the stimulus which she gave him because he was underage. It was stated in an interview before the trial that she knew what the money was being used for.

Supposedly they were also behind on bills and mom was constantly in danger of eviction yet gave him stimulus money to blow on crap instead of bill paying.

[KY_EnviroGuy]

17. Most of our Nation should be in therapy and has some PTSD due to....

the behavior of hard-right wingnuts like him with guns and social media accounts as weapons, along with massively-funded right-wing media.

Just mass shootings alone in the USA is enough to drive any sane person nuts.

KY.........

[ProfessorGAC]

19. This Only Proves He's Not Roy DeMeo

Having PTSD over being a killer is probably not uncommon except among the psychopaths.
It has nothing to do with guilt or innocence.

[Takket]

22. Are the people he shot in therapy too?

[lagomorph777]

23. Poor baby. Two people are in their graves.

Let him rot in jail forever.

[bluecollar2]

26. Irrelevant

“His pause,” Richards said, “was, I believe, because he’s in therapy. I don’t think he has a mental illness or anything. As a result of this incident, he has PTSD.”

He didn't have PTSD AT THE TIME HE KILLED TWO AND INJURED ONE!!!