Kyle Rittenhouse's attorney Mark Richards said the defense team decided to put Rittenhouse on the stand in his homicide trial after receiving results from mock juries with or without him testifying, according to Insider.
At a press conference after the trial on Friday, Richards told reporters that the tests made it clear that putting Rittenhouse on the stand to testify was the right call.
''That sealed it,'' he said. ''In Wisconsin, if you don't put a client on the stand, you're going to lose.''
Richards told Kenosha County Circuit Judge Bruce Schroeder last week that Rittenhouse's decision to testify was ''consistent with the advice of counsel.''
Rittenhouse, who was 17 at the time of the incident and now 18, was found not guilty Friday of five charges relating to the fatal shootings of Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, and Anthony Huber, 26, during the civil unrest in Kenosha, Wisconsin, on Aug. 25, 2020, according to The Associated Press.
Rittenhouse was also acquitted of charges related to the wounding of Gaige Grosskreutz, 26 at the time of the incident and now 27, that occurred the same night.
He was found not guilty of first-degree intentional homicide, first-degree reckless homicide, first-degree attempted intentional homicide, and two counts of reckless endangerment.
Two lesser charges of possession of a dangerous weapon by a person under 18 and violation of curfew were dismissed by the judge before jury deliberations, AP reported.
Rittenhouse had pleaded not guilty to his charges and testified on the stand that he acted in self-defense. The jury delivered its verdict after 3½ days of deliberation.
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