Rittenhouse trial prosecutor 'may have made a fatal error': Williams

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Ted Williams: It was worth the risk putting Rittenhouse on the stand

Fox News contributor Ted Williams reveals a 'fatal error' the Kenosha prosecutor may have made in the Kyle Rittenhouse trial on 'Your World.'

Fox News contributor Ted Williams said Wednesday on "Your World with Neil Cavuto" that the prosecutor in the Kyle Rittenhouse trial "may have made a fatal error" that could "lead to a mistrial or dismissal of this case with prejudice."

Kenosha County Assistant District Attorney Thomas Binger "may have made a fatal error when he asked him, 'Why didn't he speak up earlier?'," he explained. "Kyle Rittenhouse had Fifth Amendment rights: the right to remain silent. He did not have to speak up earlier, and that, I believe, was very prejudicial. I think it very well could in the near future here lead to a mistrial or dismissal of this case with prejudice."

PROSECUTORS COULD BE BARRED FROM RE-TRYING RITTENHOUSE IF PROSECUTORS INTENTIONALLY CAUSED MISTRIAL: EXPERT

Dismissing a case "with prejudice" means it "cannot be brought again, and the judge may very well make that decision pursuant to some of the ‘stupid’ questions that the prosecution put on in this case," Williams said.

Kyle Rittenhouse makes his way back to the stand to testify during his trail at the Kenosha County Courthouse in Kenosha, Wisconsin, November 10, 2021.  Sean Krajacic/Pool via REUTERS

The former Washington, D.C. homicide detective added that putting Rittenhouse on the stand was "worth [the risk]." A defense attorney should not put his client on the stand "unless it's necessary," he said, as it was here since Rittenhouse's legal team claims self-defense. In this case, Rittenhouse's lawyers wanted him to be able "to explain to the jury just what was going on."

Ted Williams, an attorney and former detective in Washington, D.C. (Courtesy Ted Williams)

The 18-year-old Rittenhouse "went through step one, step two and step three" to show that he was acting in self-defense, which Williams defined as "the individual being in fear of great bodily harm."

Wendy Rittenhouse, Kyle Rittenhouse's mother, gets emotional as her son is cross-examined by Assistant District Attorney Thomas Binger during his trail at the Kenosha County Courthouse in Kenosha, Wisconsin, November 10, 2021.  Sean Krajacic/Pool via REUTERS

Rittenhouse is on trial for shooting three men, in which two of the men died, during the Black Lives Matter riot in Kenosha, Wisconsin in August 2020. Rittenhouse claims he shot the three individuals in self-defense. Prosecutors are trying him for murder, although Williams said the prosecutors appear to be "all over the place." 

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If the prosecution deliberately causes a mistrial, they could be barred from re-trying Rittenhouse.