The extradition hearing Friday morning for the Antioch teenager charged in the fatal shooting of two Wisconsin men in Kenosha was continued 30 days as he seeks private legal representation.
Kyle Rittenhouse, 17, will remain in Lake County custody during that time.
The Kenosha County District Attorney’s Office charged Rittenhouse Thursday with a series charges, the most serious of which being first-degree intentional homicide. That is is punishable by life in prison.
Generally, when a person faces extradition to another state, a judge has the opportunity to review the facts of the case before transportation is arranged, said Sgt. Christopher Covelli, a spokesman for the Lake County Sheriff’s Office.
The hearing Friday was streamed live on YouTube. The video did not remain posted after the hearing’s conclusion.
Rittenhouse was represented Friday by Jennifer Snyder with the Lake County Public Defender’s Office. She told the judge that private counsel would be taking over the case, and as a result, asked that Friday’s hearing be continued for 30 days.
The attorneys “need some time to file that appearance and meet with Mr. Rittenhouse,” Snyder said.
She also asked that Rittenhouse not be required to appear for Friday’s hearing. Both requests were granted.
The Lake County Public Defender’s Office had spoken to Rittenhouse about Friday’s hearing and arranged for him to have a phone call Friday morning with his mother, Synder said.
Lee Filas, a spokesman for the Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office, said the next extradition status hearing, where Rittenhouse can decide whether to waive extradition or actually have a hearing, is Sept. 25.
Rittenhouse will remain in custody until he comes back to court, Filas said. He added it will be the same hearing that was supposed to take place on Friday.
Rittenhouse was not present at the hearing.
John Pierce, a Los Angeles Attorney with the law firm Pierce and Bainbridge, is set to lead Rittenhouse’s defense team.
Pierce was not immediately able to be reached for comment.
On Thursday, the district attorney’s office filed a series of charges against Antioch teenager, Kyle Rittenhouse, in connection with the shootings. The most serious charge – first-degree intentional homicide – is punishable by life in prison.
The documents filed by McNeill identify the victims of the fatal shootings as Joseph Rosenbaum and Anthony Huber. A third man, Gaige Grosskreutz, was injured.
GoFundMe pages have been set up for Huber and Rosenbaum.
As of Friday morning, Huber’s had raised $11,233 and Rosenbaum’s had garnered $15,163 in donations.
A woman who identified herself as a friend of Rosenbaum’s said money raised from the GoFundMe will go to his funeral and to help his daughter.
On Huber’s page, a woman who says she is his aunt called him a witty and very awesome skateboarder.
Huber was fighting for a cause, she said and was not a rioter, but a protestor and a defender.
“He did all he could to have people accept him for who he was and we all only wanted the best for him,” Huber’s aunt said on the GoFundMe.
Source: The Daily Chronicle
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