Oklahoma Lawmaker Files 'Kyle's Law' to Compensate 'Victims of Malicious Prosecution'

An Oklahoma state senator filed a bill on Tuesday dubbed “Kyle’s Law,” inspired by the trial of Kyle Rittenhouse, to protect Oklahomans who exercise their right of self-defense from facing trial for “political reasons.”

State Sen. Nathan Dahm (R-Broken Arrow) said the legislation, also called Senate Bill 1120, is designed to ensure “victims of malicious prosecution” are able to receive compensation for expenses and damages. Should the bill become law, if a person charged with murder is found not guilty due to justifiable homicide, the state would have to reimburse that person for all reasonable costs “including loss of wages, legal fees incurred, and other expenses involved in their defense.”

The statement continues in part:

When a homicide is determined to be justified and the accused establishes that they had sustained injury due to malicious prosecution, then that person will be awarded “fair and just compensation.”

SB 1120 further states that in order to support a claim of malicious prosecution, the claimant must establish that the prosecution was instituted or instigated by the prosecutor and was without probable cause; that the prosecution had legally and finally been terminated in favor of the claimant; and that as a result of the criminal prosecution, the claimant sustained injury.

Malice may be established if the motive for the prosecution was something other than a desire to bring an offender to justice, or that it was one with ill will or hatred, or willfully done in a wanton or oppressive manner and in conscious disregard of the claimant’s rights.  Under the legislation, a prosecutor may be held personally liable to a claimant if malicious prosecution is established.

The bill was filed just a few days after Rittenhouse was acquitted of all charges stemming from defending himself against three rioters during a Black Lives Matter riot on August 25, 2020, in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Rittenhouse shot and killed James Rosenbaum, who threatened to kill him and reached for his gun, and Anthony Huber, who hit Rittenhouse in the head and neck with a skateboard and also attempted to grab his gun. Rittenhouse shot and injured a third man, Gaige Grosskreutz, who pointed a pistol at him.

Rittenhouse was immediately labeled a “white supremacist” by many, including then-presidential candidate Joe Biden, and was called a “vigilante” by corporate media. During his trial, Rittenhouse endured the questioning of an arguably vicious prosecution — the judge at one point accused Assistant District Attorney Thomas Binger of a “grave constitutional violation” for casting suspicion on Rittenhouse exercising his right to remain silent before the trial.
Binger also told the jury that Rittenhouse lost the right to self-defense because he brought an AR-15 to a riot, mocked the teenager for breaking down on the stand, and broke basic gun safety rules by pointing a rifle at the courtroom. Another prosecutor, James Kraus, told Rittenhouse he should have let himself be attacked because “everybody takes a beating sometimes.”

Rittenhouse told Fox News’ Tucker Carlson that he believes Binger was more interested in advancing his own interests than in reaching a fair verdict.

“They knew I was innocent but they still decided to bring these charges to make their name — to have a name. They wanted my head on their shelf,” he said, noting that Binger is a “corrupt person who just wants to make a name for himself and not look at the facts.”

He continued:

I used to be a fan of the prosecutors, not anymore: I believe there are still good prosecuting attorneys out there. He is the prosecuting attorney that wants to make a name for himself, and he is supposed to speak the truth and nothing but the truth, but he decided he wanted to lie and try to put me in prison for the rest of my life for defending myself.

Sen. Dahm said he hopes his bill’s passage will ensure that what happened to Rittenhouse never happens to anyone else:

Kyle Rittenhouse should never have been charged. The video evidence from early on showed it was lawful self-defense. It is our duty to protect the rights of the people we represent, and the right to self-defense is paramount. This bill will ensure that what happened to Kyle Rittenhouse cannot happen to the people of Oklahoma.”

Katherine Hamilton is a political reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on Twitter.

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