Feb. 11, 2021 2:30p; Updated at 5:40p with quotes
(WGTD)---A Kenosha circuit court judge has ordered the attorney for Kyle Rittenhouse to provide his client's address under seal as he awaits trial on charges that he killed two demonstrators and wounded a third during the riots that followed the police shooting of Jacob Blake.
Judge Bruce Schroeder ruled Thursday that while Rittenhouse had improperly failed to update his address on a bond document, Rittenhouse wasn't in violation of the actual conditions of his release because no address requirement had been ordered or even requested at the time.
The prosecution had urged Schroeder to raise Rittenhouse's bond by $200,000 and issue an arrest warrant, saying that Rittenhouse had displayed a cavalier attitude about the seriousness of the case against him. Schroeder declined. "To issue a warrant now for a defendant who has appeared for every hearing--I'd be breaking the law. And I'm not going to do it," he said.
Schroeder ordered that Rittenhouse's attorney provide his client's address to the court and to the sheriff's department. But prosecutor Tom Binger's request that it be shared with his office as is customary in criminal cases was denied. Schroeder cut off further argument from Binger by abruptly adjourning the hour-long hearing.
Because of purported threats, Rittenhouse moved into a "safe house" shortly after he was released in November on the $2 million bond that had been raised online by supporters.
Binger argued in part that the public had a right to know where Rittenhouse was living. But Schroeder ruled that the address should not be part of public court documents. "After what this town has been through in the last 6 months, I don't want any more problems," Schroeder said. "We don't need to have people's safety in jeopardy in any way. So I think the desire that the defendant's request be kept from public scrutiny is a legitimate one," he said.
Schroeder also said he won't be swayed by public opinion. "Look, I want to have a fair trial in this case," he said. "This case is not going to be decided by demonstrators of one type or another."
The trial is scheduled for the end of March.
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