BIG WIN FOR THE PROSECUTION: SAVED BY JUDGE ALLOWING PROVOCATION INSTRUCTIONS
Much of the day’s argument over jury instructions centered on the instructions dealing with the legal doctrine of provocation—and that’s because an attack through the doctrine of provocation is the only desperate hope the State has for overcoming Kyle’s powerful claim of self-defense and obtaining convictions on the use-of-force charges against him.
Of the six counts brought against Kyle Rittenhouse in this trial, five are use-of-force felonies (the other is the misdemeanor gun possession charge already discussed). To each of those felony charges, Kyle has raised the legal defense of self-defense. To convict on any of those, then, the State must disprove self-defense beyond a reasonable doubt. How might the State do this, given that it has introduced little if any evidence attacking the core elements of Kyle’s self-defense?
By attacking Kyle’s claim of self-defense through the doctrine of provocation.
