As Kyle Rittenhouse's dramatic murder trial wrapped up on Monday, a new thing has been revealed about the prosecution's star witness Gaige Grosskreutz. Grosskreutz, 28, reportedly, has a criminal record and his charges were dismissed just six days before Rittenhouse's trial started. This means the jury had no insight into his extensive criminal record nor his history of lying to police, according to a Daily Mail report.
According to the outlet, Grosskreutz is a violent career criminal with a long list of offenses and convictions stretching back more than a decade. However, the jury didn't know anything about it, while Assistant District Attorney Thomas Binger knew about it from the beginning but didn't disclose anything.
Long List of Offences
Grosskreutz has a long list of criminal offences, according to the outlet. These include domestic abuse, prowling, trespass, two DUIs, felony burglary and two charges of carrying a firearm while intoxicated, one of which took place when he was banned as a felon from carrying a firearm.
However, that is not where the charges end. Grosskreutz also has a history of showing disdain for the law by lying to, and failing to co-operate with, police.
The jury for Rittenhouse didn't get to know about all these or simply didn't hear it. However, Binger knew about it and despite knowing that he has a history of lying, paraded Grosskreutz, who was the third man to be shot by Rittenhouse on the night of August 25, 2020.
What the jury knew was that Grosskreutz was a paramedic and was there on scene on that evening helping prove aid to the injured when he was shot by Rittenhouse.
Grosskreutz was presented as a law-abiding citizen during Rittenhouse's trial but given his history of lying no one now knows if it has already changed the fate of the trial.
Not Fair Trial?
Grosskreutz's charges were dismissed just six days before he took the stand and then he appeared at Rittenhouse's trial as a law-abiding citizen. Six days before he took the stand, Grosskreutz was before a judge at a hearing at which a pending DUI charge – a second offense that saw him three times over the legal limit. The charges were dismissed on a technicality.
He was also pulled over on October 6, 2020, for failure to use a signal but under Wisconsin law if there is no other vehicle present a signal is not necessary. Grosskreutz's attorney told the judge that this was, "a unique case."
Had Grosskreutz's latest charge not been dismissed, Rittenhouse's defense would have been allowed to question him under oath about the fact that he was on bond and the nature of his offense. The information would have definitely damaged Grosskreutz's credibility and eroded his image of a law-abiding citizen as projected by the prosecution.
Moreover, not everything is right about Grosskreutz. Even, last week the defense managed to extract the facts that Grosskreutz had refused to be re-interviewed by police about his shooting when approached in September 2020.
They also revealed that he had lied to police in his original statement by failing to mention that he was armed with a Glock 27 or that he was pointing it at Rittenhouse when the teen shot him. However, despite all these Grosskreutz was presented as the star witness and became the fulcrum in the high-profile case.
