Prosecutors in Kenosha shooter Kyle Rittenhouse's trial are asking a judge to ban defense attorneys from referring to the men he shot as 'rioters' or 'looters' as the case prepares to go to trial next month.
Rittenhouse, 18, is charged with homicide and attempted homicide for fatally shooting Joseph Rosenbaum and Anthony Huber, as well as wounding Gaige Grosskreutz, at a Black Lives Matter protest on August 25, 2020. His trial is due to begin on November 1.
On Monday, prosecutors filed a motion to prohibit the defense from referring to the three victims' criminal histories or calling them 'pejorative' terms such as 'looters' and 'rioters,' according to Kenosha News.
'Much like this court prohibits the state from referring to anyone as a 'victim,' these terms prejudice the status of these individuals,' the motion stated. 'There has never been a judicial determination that any of these individuals rioted, looted or committed arson on the night of August 25, 2020.
'Further, the defendant deprived Mr. Rosenbaum and Mr. Huber of their ability to defend their reputations against these sorts of attacks when he killed them both.'
Rittenhouse, accused of shooting three people during a protest against police brutality in Wisconsin last year, waits for the start of his motion hearing on October 5
Victims: In the August 25, 2020, shooting Rittenhouse fatally shot Anthony Huber (right) and shot and wounded Gaig Grosskruetz (left)
Prosecutors also want to ban the discussion of any lawsuits related to the case and asked to have all parties in the case referred to 'formally by their last names,' likely in response to supporters of Rittenhouse calling him Kyle in an effort to emphasize his youth, the outlet reports.
The motion comes after Rittenhouse's defense attorney Mark Richards argued last week that the jury should be privy to Rosenbaum's criminal history while calling him a rioter.
'These were not protesters, they were rioters,' Richards said, adding that he believed Rosenbaum was attempting to steal Rittenhouse's gun.
Rittenhouse is scheduled to return to court on October 25 for the continuation of a motion hearing before his trial begins on November 1.
The defense team for Rittenhouse previously tried, unsuccessfully, to have his previous weapons charge dismissed from his indictment.
Rittenhouse (pictured) carries a weapon as he walks along Sheridan Road in Kenosha on the night of August 25, 2020, during unrest following the police shooting of Jacob Blake
Rittenhouse says he acted in self-defense as the protests descended into violence, but he is set to stand trial for murder later this year. He is pictured shooting at Grosskreutz
Gaige Grosskreutz, pictured, was shot in the arm as protesters and armed civilians clashed during protests over the shooting of a black man Jacob Blake by police officer in Wisconsin
In video footage from August 25, 2020 Joseph Rosenbaum (red t-shirt with black pocket), 36, can be seen confronting armed men during the Kenosha Wisconsin protests
Rittenhouse's attorney Corey Chirafisi argued that a firearms law only bars minors from using short-barreled rifles and not the AR-15 style assault rifle the teen used.
Rittenhouse was 17 when he killed Rosenbaum and Huber at riots sparked by the police shooting of black man Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin during August 2020.
Rittenhouse's attorneys have argued that he fired in self-defense after Rosenbaum, Huber, and Grosskreutz attacked him.
The teen's lawyers also want the court to allow them to call, John R. Black, a self-defense expert, as a witness to back up their assertions.
Black, a former Washington County, Oregon, sheriff's deputy, has testified in numerous state and federal cases, offering his expertise in
