First-degree reckless homicide, use of a dangerous weapon
Count 1 states Rittenhouse recklessly caused the death of Rosenbaum under circumstances that showed utter disregard for human life.
The judge denied a prosecution request for the jury to also be instructed on second-degree reckless homicide.
Rittenhouse testified he acted in self-defense when he fatally shot Rosenbaum after the man threw a plastic bag at him and chased him.
"I didn't do anything wrong. I defended myself," he testified.
Under cross-examination, Rittenhouse said he knew Rosenbaum was unarmed. He said he pointed his rifle at Rosenbaum in an attempt to deter him and acknowledged it was dangerous.
"If I would have let Mr. Rosenbaum take my firearm from me, he would have used it and killed me with it and probably killed more people," he testified.
Rittenhouse broke down in tears at one point, leading to a short break.
"I think it was a game changer to put him on the stand," CNN legal analyst Joey Jackson said. "Number one, you humanize him... More important, number two, he explained his uses of force."
Rittenhouse's testimony couldn't have been scripted any better, criminal defense attorney Mark Eiglarsh said.
The "biggest issue" is whether the jury finds Rittenhouse credible, he told CNN. "Secondly, do they believe then that it equals he reasonably feared death or great bodily harm?"
Wisconsin law allows the
use of deadly force only if "necessary to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm."
"Whether he engaged in self-defense and did so reasonably and thought his life was in immediate danger ... that's what the jury has to assess ultimately," Jackson said of Rittenhouse.
Prosecutors also requested the jury be given instruction on provocation. They argued Rittenhouse provoked Rosenbaum by raising his gun and pointing it at somebody, which led to the victim running after him.
The judge agreed to allow the panel to consider whether Rittenhouse provoked Rosenbaum into attacking him -- thus negating self-defense.
Ellie Honig, a CNN senior legal analyst and a former prosecutor, said the provocation instruction was an important win for the prosecution.
Honig said the instruction allows prosecutors to argue "the defendant went too far, used deadly force when it wasn't reasonably necessary" and he "provoked the attack, and hence cannot argue self-defense."