North Dakota mulls defendant reimbursement bill inspired by Kyle Rittenhouse
Ryan King
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Kyle Rittenhouse testified before the North Dakota state Senate Tuesday, appealing to lawmakers to enact a bill dubbed “Kyle’s Law.”
The bill, HB 1213, lays out a reimbursement scheme for defendants who successfully use a self-defense argument to win a not-guilty verdict against violent crime charges. Other states have mulled similar laws over recent years with the intent of deterring weak prosecutions and enacting financial protections for defendants that wind up being acquitted.
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“If this bill had been in effect when I was forced to defend myself, it might have prompted the DA to stop and consider the facts before jumping on the anti-gun bandwagon and charging me without having probable cause, evidence, and all of the facts first,” Rittenhouse testified, according to a transcript shared with the Washington Examiner.
Rittenhouse was tried and acquitted for fatally shooting two men and wounding a third during civil unrest in 2020.
HB 1213 was introduced earlier this year by state Republican Reps. Nico Rios, Donald Longmuir, Mike Motschenbacher, Brandon Prichard, Dan Ruby, and Kelby Timmons, as well as state Sens. Brad Bekkedahl and Bob Paulson.
Under the proposal, the state will reimburse qualifying defendants who were successfully acquitted via a self-defense justification for “all reasonable costs incurred in defense, including loss of wages and time, attorney’s fees, and other expenses involved in the defense.”
For cases where the defendant was found to have engaged in “criminal conduct substantially related to the events giving rise to the charges” levied, the court is given the authority to “deny or reduce the amount of reimbursement,” according to the bill.
Republicans possess a supermajority in both chambers of the North Dakota legislature, and Gov. Doug Burgum (R-ND) controls the governor’s mansion. Similar measures have been floated in other states, such as Tennessee, but in that state, the proposal was eventually withdrawn.
“I was humbled to be asked to testify today. Self-defense is a right of every person in America, and it should be upheld. I hope that my testimony aids in the passing of this bill,” Rittenhouse told the Washington Examiner.
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Rittenhouse was vaulted into the national spotlight in 2020 after his shootings during the Kenosha, Wisconsin, riots. He was 17 at the time and argued that he was acting in self-defense, carrying a rifle to protect businesses in the city gripped by chaos stemming from the police shooting of Jacob Blake, a 29-year-old armed black man.
Eventually, a Wisconsin jury acquitted him of all charges in November 2021, including ones that ranged from intentional homicide to recklessly endangering safety. Since then, Rittenhouse has taken aim at media outlets over the coverage of his trial. Last month, a judge allowed a wrongful death lawsuit against Rittenhouse to proceed.