Feb. 4, 2021 2:55p; Clarified KPD role at 4:30p, edited for clarity
(WGTD)---A prosecutor says the public has the right to know where Kyle Rittenhouse is living while out on $2 million bond, even though the defense maintains that a public posting of their client's "safe house" address would put his life in danger.
Rittenhouse is the Illinois teen who shot and killed two demonstrators and wounded a third in the unrest that following the police shooting of Jacob Blake last summer. Rittenhouse, who claims self defense, was released after posting bail money that was raised online by his supporters.
But Kenosha County Assistant District Attorney Tom Binger wants the judge in the case to impose another $200,000 bond because Rittenhouse moved without telling the court where he now lives. According to court documents, a court clerk sent correspondence to the address Rittenhouse had listed on his bond and the envelope was returned with no fowarding address.
Binger is opposing the defense's request to "seal" the new address, which purportedly was submitted to Judge Bruce Schroeder this week.
For one thing, Binger noted that the new "address" is nothing more than a post office box, and not something that could be legally used in lieu of a street address.
For another, Binger says Rittenhouse isn't the only one now suffering. Friends and relatives of the victims have been traumatized, and are continuing to suffer with Rittenhouse out on bond, and not knowing where he's living. "After suffering the trauma and events of Aug. 25th, they now have to contend with a defendant who is free from custody after posting nothing on his own behalf, and who could literally be living right next door to them," Binger said. "That is completely unacceptable," he said.
The defense claims that a Kenosha police department captain told a Rittenhouse attorney that it was okay for him to put down his old address on the bond form. In a news release, the police department Thursday denied that any advice was offered, either by the supervisor named in an affidavit or by another who did speak briefly with the Rittenhouse attorney. And said Binger: "A police department captain does not have the authority to 'unilaterally' modify a court order."
Barring a court hearing to discuss the bond issues, Rittenhouse is due in court next for a pre-trial hearing Mar. 10th.
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