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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsProsecutors cannot call those shot by Kyle Rittenhouse 'victims,' a judge has ruled
Prosecutors in the criminal trial of Kyle Rittenhouse, the teenager who shot and killed two protesters last year in Kenosha, Wis., will not be able to refer to the people he shot as "victims," a judge has ruled, while defense attorneys may be able to call them "arsonists" or "looters."
In a proceeding about the ground rules for the upcoming trial, prosecutors and defense lawyers debated whether certain language, witnesses or evidence would be allowed. The trial begins next week.
"The word 'victim' is a loaded, loaded word. And I think 'alleged victim' is a cousin to it," Judge Bruce Schroeder said on Monday, asking prosecutors to instead use the terms "complaining witness" or "decedent" to refer to those shot by Rittenhouse. (Though not universal, it is not unheard of for judges to feel that the word "victim" presupposes the defendant's guilt.)
Meanwhile, the defense will be allowed to refer to the three people Rittenhouse shot as "arsonists," "looters" or "rioters" so long as they took part in those activities, Schroeder ruled a decision prosecutor Thomas Binger called "a double standard."
"Let the evidence show what the evidence shows," Schroeder said. "And if the evidence shows that any or more than one of these people were engaged in arson, rioting, or looting then I'm not going to tell the defense they can't call them that."
https://www.npr.org/2021/10/26/1049458617/kyle-rittenhouse-victims-arsonists-looters-judge-ruled
Hugh_Lebowski
(33,643 posts)hypocritical to say it's okay to call the decedents by these names when none of them are convicted of any such crime, obviously.
What a fucking asshole
aeromanKC
(3,322 posts)than any of those murdered by Rittenhouse as a looter or arsonist.
onecaliberal
(32,856 posts)TygrBright
(20,759 posts)Frasier Balzov
(2,647 posts)An acceptable noun must be found, because the people who Rittenhouse shot will need to be referred to repeatedly during the proceedings.
ShazamIam
(2,571 posts)Dorian Gray
(13,493 posts)refer to them as "the person who was Shot and killed by Rittenhouse."