The I'm-not-a-lawyer "legal" thread

[sweetcell]

a thread for musings about the law and how (or if) it relates to justice.  we wander into this territory fairly often.

obligatory disclaimer: discussion in this thread is for entertainment purposes only.  no one should construe anything said here as actual legal advice.  please see a real lawyer if you have an real legal issue. 

with that out of the way, onward...

[sweetcell]

question: why hasn't rittenhouse been charged with weapons violations?  he was underage (so not allowed to own a gun), purchased it illegally (someone bought it on his behalf), and he crossed state lines with said illegal weapon.  seems like he could spend some serious time behind bars for these actions.

also: will any of the victims sue him for wrongful death?  if not, why?

[StoneTheCrow]

The judge dropped the weapons charge. Why, I’m unsure. That's the one charge that appeared to be a lock.

[sweetcell]

The judge dropped the weapons charge. Why, I’m unsure. That's the one charge that appeared to be a lock.

found the answer: "because it wasn't illegal"

"Rittenhouse attorneys Mark Richards and Corey Chirafisi pointed to an exception in the law that they said allows minors to possess shotguns and rifles as long as they’re not short-barreled." https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/explainer-judge-drop-rittenhouse-gun-charge-81285031


a few more details here... essentially, the prosecution kinda effed up.  on the one hand it made sense for them to focus on the homocide charges instead of seeking clarification on the (minor) weapons charge, on the other hand they should have been able to walk and chew gum.

[StoneTheCrow]

Yikes

[kosmo vinyl]

Pretty sure the weapons charge was the one the the judge dismissed at the last minute

Here is a lengthy thread that was passed along a couple times by smarter people then I

https://twitter.com/kurteichenwald/status/1461781401053937669?s=21

tl,dr

It was clear to some that he was going to get off due to stand your ground laws in WI, the prosecution made huge mistakes, the third witness who threatened with a gun was horrible

But bottom line is that many already abhorrent bottom feeders sink to even lower depths celebrating this loser

And who among those with any decency is going to want to spend anytime in his vicinity.. work, university,etc

[kosmo vinyl]

Also a good thread

https://twitter.com/kurteichenwald/status/1462892707240677387?s=21

[sweetcell]

also: will any of the victims sue him for wrongful death?

sounds like he likely will be sued:
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/kyle-rittenhouse-face-civil-penalties-acquittals-kenosha-deaths-rcna6207
https://www.newstalkflorida.com/featured/kyle-rittenhouses-legal-troubles-may-be-far-from-over-despite-acquittal-former-assistant-us-attorney-warns/

[sweetcell]

as another non-legal-expert said:

"OK, cards on the table: I'm not a legal expert, so I can't tell you whether or not Kyle Rittenhouse broke the law. But I can tell you this: if he didn't break the law, we should change the law."

[StoneTheCrow]

And then there is this:

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/18/nyregion/christopher-belter-rape-sentence.html

[ye-ole-hatch ıll|̲̅̅●̲̅̅|̲̅̅=̲̅̅|̲̅̅●̲̅̅|llıl]

he crossed state lines with said illegal weapon. 

this point has been refuted many times
He didn't in fact cross the state line with the weapon in his hand, he retrieved it when he got to WI

So something libs keep on saying, but in my understanding is not factually true

[ye-ole-hatch ıll|̲̅̅●̲̅̅|̲̅̅=̲̅̅|̲̅̅●̲̅̅|llıl]

as another non-legal-expert said:

"OK, cards on the table: I'm not a legal expert, so I can't tell you whether or not Kyle Rittenhouse broke the law. But I can tell you this: if he didn't break the law, we should change the law."

this is 100% the take IMO
the court didn't really do anything out of line of what the law said...so we should get beyond this case and change the laws going forward