Prosecution in Rittenhouse case couldn’t be trying ‘any harder’ to reach acquittal: Law professor

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Rittenhouse prosecution 'could not be working harder' for acquittal: Turley

GWU law professor Jonathan Turley weighs in on the Kyle Rittenhouse hearing.

Closing statements for the Kyle Rittenhouse hearing rang out in the courtroom Monday and George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley got the impression that the prosecution was giving up the case, he told "Tucker Carlson Tonight."

Turley argued that the prosecutors downplaying violent protests – reminding and "mocking" jurors who witnessed their city set ablaze -- was not only offensive to a jury of Kenosha, Wisconsin residents but also counterproductive. 

"The prosecution could not be working harder for acquittal," he said. "You can only imagine what it’s like to be a Kenosha juror sitting there and saying whose counsel are you? Who are you representing here?"

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The legal scholar predicted that the prosecution’s performance has ultimately "reduced the range of possibility" between a hung jury and acquittal by Kenosha County attorney Thomas Binger "making himself the issue."

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"[Binger] has contradicted his statements so often, presented evidence that was not borne out, he’s really begging for reaction from this jury," he said. "I would be very surprised if they could eke out a single conviction on this rather appalling record."

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Reflecting back to opening statements, which he compared to an "oral contract" with the jury, the professor stressed that what’s stated at the beginning of the trial better be proven throughout. But Turley explained how the prosecution came up short.

"When you say that Rittenhouse chased down [Rosenbaum] and shot him in the back, they expect to see it," he said. "And, in fact, they didn’t… You saw one count drop and a number of the assertions made in the opening statement were gone by the closing argument."

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The gun possession charge against Rittenhouse was dismissed by the judge Monday after being revealed that it was not an illegal offense in the state of Wisconsin. Turley questioned how the prosecution received an indictment on the count in the first place.