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So Kyle Rittenhouse has been charged with first degree intentional homicide (among other charges), which in the Wisconsin Criminal Code is the equivalent what most people would call first degree murder. The key is that the statute does not assert premeditation as a requisite...
I was skeptical (based on several pieces of raw footage) as to whether the prosecution would be able to prove premeditation, but it seems that is no longer an issue. Another thing to consider in this case is mitigating circumstances and how they might affect sentencing...
The statute states that the listed mitigating circumstances are available defenses which would NOT acquit Rittenhouse, but simply reduce the charge to 2nd degree intentional homicide, should the defense pursue that route...
In Wisconsin, 1st and 2nd degree intentional homicide are Class A and Class B felonies respectively. Class A felonies are punishable by life in prison, Class B up to 60 years...
When I heard "1st Degree" my knee-jerk response was that he might get acquitted based on reasonable doubt being cast on his premeditation, and that perhaps a lower degree might be more likely to secure a conviction. But, as I looked into it and explained in this thread...
It seems the charge is much more sound than one might initially think. So there likely won't be a Casey Anthony style case of overprosecution. I'm interested to see how this case proceeds
