Medical Examiner Says Rosenbaum’s Hand Was ‘In Close Proximity Or In Contact’ With Rittenhouse’s Gun When He Was Killed

The medical examiner in the Kyle Rittenhouse trial said Tuesday that Joseph Rosenbaum’s hand was in “close proximity or in contact” with Rittenhouse’s gun just before he was fatally shot.

“Doctor, we talked about this hand wound and how that occurred. If someone is pointing a rifle at you, an AR-15, do you have an explanation of how that hand could be positioned that would result in the injury shown and then also perhaps the injury to the thigh from that same round?” Assistant District Attorney James Krauss asked.

Medical examiner in Rittenhouse trial explains how Rosenbaum’s wounds happened: his hand was in “close proximity or in contact with the end of that rifle” pic.twitter.com/hlOZxAX7Oa

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“This is a close range injury,” Dr. Doug Kelley, a forensic pathologist who performed autopsies on both Rosenbaum and Anthony Huber, testified. “His hand is in close proximity or in contact with the end of that rifle, so you can kind of think of it in your head, you know if you put the end of the rifle close to that trajectory through his hand, you move the hand around, you can put it in different relationships to the body that can explain that. Typically by turning the palm toward the ground it would make sense that it could go through the hand, hit the ground, and create the injuries to the left side of the thigh.”

Kelley also testified, when cross-examined by defense attorney Mark Richards, that Rosenbaum’s hand was on the barrel of the gun.

“That hand was over the barrel of Mr. Rittenhouse’s gun when his hand was shot?” Richards asked, according to CNN. (RELATED: Judge In Rittenhouse Trial Says Someone Was Filming The Jury)

“That makes sense,” Kelley said.

Kelley did testify that Rosenbaum was shot four times by Rittenhouse, including once in the back and once on the side of his head, according to CNN.

“The only time during the interaction in which he could have incurred the gunshot wounds to the back and to the right side of the head was when he was more horizontal, and the only time that happens is the last two gunshot wounds,” Kelley said. “The first two gunshot wounds are represented by the injury to the groin and the injury to the left thigh.”

Kelley explained how the horizontal position could indicate that Rosenbaum was either falling forward or lunging and that the so-called “kill shot” was fired against Rosenbaum when he was either falling or perpendicular with the ground.

Daily Caller video director Richie McGinniss testified Rosenbaum was lunging for the gun.

“I think it was very clear to me that he was reaching specifically for the weapon.”