Thread by @sierragillespie

We're back! Judge Bruce Schroeder calls for the jury to re-enter in the case of Wisconsin v. Kyle Rittenhouse.

Also of (small) note: the past two days, court has had to break for lunch early, because a food delivery came earlier than expected. Today, Judge Schroeder hopes to avoid that by ordering Subway. We'll see.

Jason Lakowski is back on the stand to be questioned by Assistant District Attorney Thomas Binger.

Binger: You characterize Mr. Rosenbaum as the most aggressive person out there that night, is that fair to say?
Lakowski: Yes.
B: Did you ever see him physically harm anyone?
L: No.

Lakowski testifies he never saw ANYONE physically harm someone on August 25, 2020.

Binger asks Lakowski to put himself in the mindset of the night of the shootings, after hearing people scream, "Get him!" Binger asks who "him" was.

Lakowski: I'm not too sure to be honest.
Binger: Was it obvious to you the "him" was the defendant, Kyle Rittenhouse?
L: No.

Lakowski clarifies he did not know Rittenhouse had shot anyone at that time.

Back to defense attorney Corey Chirafisi.

Chirafisi: Did you hear anyone else demanding to be shot that evening, other than Mr. Rosenbaum?
Lakowski: No.

Chirafisi: Did you hear any other white people using racial epitaphs in the way Mr. Rosenbaum was using them that evening?
Lakowski: Not that I can recall.

Chirafisi: You don't suspect that he may have been the person who shot someone?
Lakowski: It didn't cross my mind, no.
C: Is that in part because he was not aggressive that night?
Binger objects beyond the scope. The judge allows it as he "generally does not adhere to that rule."

Chirafisi asks Lakowski if it makes more sense TODAY on the stand, why Rittenhouse would ask for help if he had not shot anyone.
Binger shakes his head.

Chirafisi: And he can shake his head as he wants.

With that, he ends questioning.

The state calls Amber Rasmussen, a DNA analyst with the Wisconsin State Crime Lab.

Rasmussen: In this case we received three sets of swabs from a firearm, two sets of swabs from an ammunition magazine and three standard or reference samples from known individuals.

Rasmussen: A [reference sample is a] sample that is directly collected from a person, and we use that to establish what an individual's DNA profile is.

She testifies the reference samples collected were from Anthony Huber, Joseph Rosenbaum and Kyle Rittenhouse.

We haven't heard much from him yet, but this is James Kraus, Assistant District Attorney for Kenosha County.

Rasmussen is getting into the technical side of things: what types of DNA were found, where the DNA was found, what touch DNA items mean, etc.

Krause: How could it be that Huber makes contact with the firearm and does not leave DNA behind?
Rasmussen: As far as leaving DNA behind or being detected on the samples we received, touch DNA can vary. There may have been very little DNA on his hands when he handled that object.

Rasmussen: The DNA unit did not receive the firearm itself.
Chirafisi: What did you receive?
R: We received swabs that were collected from the firearm.

Rasmussen says she received DNA swabs from the "barrel guard" of the gun, but not the barrel of the gun itself. Rasmussen also testifies her report states there was no DNA provided from the barrel.

Chirafisi: If for example, Joseph Rosenbaum touched the barrel of that gun, we'll never know that, right?
Rasmussen: I have no way of determining that.
C: Because it wasn't sent to you for analysis, right?
R: Yes.

We're also shown a photo of Anthony Huber touching the gun. Rasmussen earlier testified that Huber's DNA was not found on the gun.

Rasmussen: Whether DNA was detected from an individual or not does not mean they did not touch that item.

Rasmussen: The less an item is handled, the less I would expect an opportunity for DNA to transfer.

Chirafisi says there are no more questions. Rasmussen is taken off the stand.

The state calls Susan Hughes, Anthony Huber's great aunt.

Hughes: Even when he was a child, we had a special connection. I was born in Kenosha, moved away, came back in 2011. And from that time, we became even closer.

Hughes: He was a redhead. I used to be a redhead ... He kind of gravitated toward me at family gatherings.

(On whether Huber was known to use a skateboard) Hughes: Always, always... He always, even shortly before he died, when I would take him somewhere. He knew I was picking him up in a car, he knew he was going home in a car, he would bring his skateboard.

Hughes testifies that Huber would skateboard to and from work, at times for "miles."

Hughes testifies that Anthony Huber knew Jacob Blake, the African American man who was shot by a white police officer on August 23, 2020. It was this shooting that became the catalyst for the unrest in Kenosha the following days.

Hughes testifies she saw Huber the day of August 25, 2020, the day he died.
Hughes: They were on their way to do a lot of errands, and he stopped ... I gave him some mail. He was on the way to a cell phone store.

Kraus: Had you ever seen Anthony Huber run toward danger?
Hughes: Yes.

After an objection by the defense, Judge Schroeder calls for a lunch break and dismisses the jury. He expects court to resume at about 12:30 p.m.

Kraus: We are rebutting the evidence and characterization that has been made (that the defense called Rittenhouse "peaceful.") Also that the defense called Anthony Huber an "aggressor" in the situation.

The defense argues back, saying there is video evidence of Huber hitting Rittenhouse in the head with a skateboard.

Chirafisi: Mr. Huber, his acts speak for himself in terms of what he did.

The state rebuts the claim that Huber is the "first aggressor."

Kraus: Our theory, as we've laid out, is that these people were going to stop an active shooter ... The state frankly thinks Mr. Huber is a hero.

Judge Schroeder: Direct evidence that Mr. Huber did actions that the jury actually has the unique benefit ... where they can actually see the action. So the evidence [the State is] offering now, is character-type evidence.

Judge Schroeder: I'm going to see what the commentary is saying. We'll take a look.