Thomas Binger

Thomas Clair Binger[1] is an American lawyer and government official who has served in the role of Kenosha County Assistant District Attorney since 2014.[2][3] He was raised in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, where he attended the local Washington High School.[4] He ran unsuccessfully as a Democrat for the office of the Racine County District Attorney in 2016.[5][6] He served as the lead prosecutor in the 2021 trial of Kyle Rittenhouse following the 2020 Kenosha unrest shooting, which ended in Rittenhouse's acquittal.[2][7][8]

Thomas Binger
Binger in February 2021
Kenosha County Assistant District Attorney
Assumed office
2014
GovernorTony Evers (2019–present)
Scott Walker (2014–2019)
Lieutenant GovernorSara Rodriguez (2023–present)
Mandela Barnes (2019–2023)
Rebecca Kleefisch (2014–2019)
Milwaukee County Prosecutor
In office
1999–2005
GovernorJim Doyle (2003–2005)

Scott McCallum (2001–2003)

Tommy Thompson (1999–2001)
Lieutenant GovernorBarbara Lawton (2003–2005)

Margaret A. Farrow (2001–2003)

Scott McCallum (1999–2001)
Personal details
CitizenshipUnited States
Political partyDemocratic
OccupationLawyer

Early life and education

Binger is a native of Sioux Falls, South Dakota.[4] He attended Washington High School in Sioux Falls. While in high school, he competed nationally as a member of the high school's debate team, earning 4th place in a national debate competition alongside his debate partner.[4]

Binger earned his Juris Doctor from the University of Michigan Law School in 1996.[9]

Between 1999 and 2005, Binger worked for the Milwaukee County District Attorney's office as a prosecutor.[6] In 2005, he argued a termination of parental rights case before the Wisconsin Supreme Court.[10] The Supreme Court unanimously agreed with his argument that a biological father who has not yet been adjudicated as the father of a child may nonetheless have his parental rights termination for abandonment of the child prior to adjudication.[11] In 2005, Binger began working in private practice at DeMark, Kolbe & Brodek S.C., where he focused on civil litigation.[12] In 2008, he won a $540,000 jury verdict for a local developer.[13] He joined the Kenosha County District Attorney's Office in 2014.[2][6][14] In 2015, he served as a prosecutor in the murder trial of Chester Mass, who was accused of murdering his girlfriend. The trial resulted in the conviction of Mass on charges of first-degree intentional homicide.[15] As of November 2021, he continues to work as an Assistant District Attorney for Kenosha County.[2]

State v. Rittenhouse
See also: Trial of Kyle Rittenhouse

Binger served as the lead prosecutor in the trial of Kyle Rittenhouse following the Kenosha unrest shooting in which Rittenhouse shot three individuals.[2][7][8] During the trial, prosecutors argued that Rittenhouse was seen as an active shooter and had provoked the other participants while defense lawyers argued the affirmative defense of self-defense on the grounds that Rittenhouse had been chased and attacked.[16]

Hearings held prior to the start of the trial showed a contentious atmosphere between Binger and Wisconsin circuit court judge Bruce Schroeder, who presided over the criminal case.[7] In February 2021, Schroeder declined a motion by Binger to have Rittenhouse arrested after Rittenhouse allegedly violated conditions of his bail by failing to report a change of address.[17] In a separate pre-trial hearing that took place in October 2021, Schroeder ordered Binger to refrain from referring to witnesses as "victims", drawing ire from Binger.[14][18]

Schroeder and Binger would continue to clash multiple times throughout the trial itself.[2][19][20] Binger drew sharp criticism from Schroeder for his line of questioning directed towards Rittenhouse; Schroeder deemed a portion of the cross-examination of the defendant that challenged the motivation for Rittenhouse's post-arrest silence to be a "grave constitutional violation", referring to the right to remain silent guaranteed by the Fifth Amendment, and admonished Binger for bringing up aspects of a prior incident involving Rittenhouse that had been previously ruled inadmissible.[2][20] Later, Binger criticized Schroeder for what he described as a "fairness issue" pertaining to the judge's handling of the defense's introduction of evidence into the trial.[2][19][20]

Citing state ethics guidelines, Binger told media on November 16 that he would not make public comments about the trial following a jury verdict.[21] Three days later, Rittenhouse was acquitted on all charges by the jury.[22] The following month, Binger publicly commented on the case in an in depth interview with the New York State Bar Association's "Miranda Warnings" podcast. [23]

Political career

In 2016, while working as a Kenosha County Assistant District Attorney, Binger unsuccessfully ran for the office of the Racine County District Attorney.[5][6][14] Binger announced his candidacy in a Facebook post on April 25, 2016, stating that he would seek election to the role as a candidate of the Democratic Party.[5][24] His Republican opponent, Tricia Hanson, announced her candidacy the following day.[3][5]

Binger focused his campaign on two top priorities—to address local problems caused by the opioid epidemic in the United States and to improve coordination between the Racine County District Attorney's office and the local victim's office, which provides support to crime victims.[3][6] He campaigned to create a treatment program for non-violent drug offenders in which drug addicts would be administered Naltrexone over a twelve-month period in order to allow addicts to avoid prison.[3][6] He argued that the treatment program would help to reduce the aggregate demand for illegal drugs in Racine County.[5] Binger also supported the creation of separate mental health courts and sought to reduce what he described as racial disparities in how Wisconsinites are arrested and prosecuted.[25]

Financing for Binger's campaign came largely from lawyers and political committees.[26][27] He received financial support from local affiliates of the Democratic Party, a United Auto Workers–affiliated PAC, as well as the campaign of then-Wisconsin state representative Cory Mason.[26][27] He also financed his campaign with a ten-thousand dollar loan from himself, as well as donations from other individual and group donors.[26]

Binger lost the election to Hanson; Binger earned 36,988 votes while Hanson earned 51,074 votes.[5]

Personal life

As of 2016, Binger was a resident of Caledonia, Wisconsin,[5] and had lived in Racine County for over ten years.[3]

As of November 2021, Binger has had three children with Nicole Gustafson-Binger, a mental health counselor.[2]

References
  1. "Lawyer Search". State Bar of Wisconsin. Archived from the original on November 20, 2021. Retrieved November 20, 2021.
  2. Miller, Andrew Mark (November 14, 2021). "Kyle Rittenhouse trial: Who is lead prosecutor Thomas Binger?". Fox News. Archived from the original on November 20, 2021. Retrieved November 20, 2021.
  3. Spoto, Cara (October 2, 2016). "Binger: Litigation skills, new ideas needed in DA's office". The Journal Times. Archived from the original on November 20, 2021. Retrieved November 20, 2021.
  4. Jorgensen, Don (November 18, 2021). "Sioux Falls native at the center of Rittenhouse murder trial". KELO-TV. Nexstar Media. Archived from the original on November 20, 2021. Retrieved November 20, 2021.
  5. Spoto, Cara (November 9, 2016). "Hanson to be next Racine County district attorney". The Journal Times. Archived from the original on November 20, 2021. Retrieved November 20, 2021.
  6. Anderson, Janine (May 1, 2016). "Local attorney to run for Racine D.A." Kenosha News. Archived from the original on November 20, 2021. Retrieved November 20, 2021.
  7. Hinkel, Dan (November 2, 2021). "The lead prosecutor has clashed with the judge in pretrial hearings". The New York Times. Archived from the original on November 20, 2021. Retrieved November 20, 2021.
  8. Mintz, Hillary (October 28, 2021). "Who is the prosecutor in the Kyle Rittenhouse case?". WISN-TV. Archived from the original on June 17, 2022. Retrieved November 20, 2021.
  9. Richmond, Todd (October 30, 2021). "A look at key players in the upcoming Kyle Rittenhouse trial". Kenosha News. Associated Press. Archived from the original on June 17, 2022. Retrieved November 20, 2021.
  10. mms://sc-media.wicourts.gov/sc-media/040723.wma
  11. "FindLaw's Supreme Court of Wisconsin case and opinions".
  12. "In the News". Wisconsin Lawyer. December 2005.
  13. "Legacy DC, Inc. V. William J. Actkins".
  14. Kuhagen, Christopher (November 12, 2021). "Thomas Binger is the lead prosecutor in the Kyle Rittenhouse trial. Here's more on the Kenosha County assistant district attorney". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Archived from the original on November 12, 2021. Retrieved November 21, 2021.
  15. Janine, Anderson (June 25, 2015). "Mass gets life in prison for Adamski murder". Kenosha News. Archived from the original on November 7, 2022.
  16. Richmond, Todd (November 16, 2021). "9 takeaways from Kyle Rittenhouse trial closings". AP News. Retrieved July 10, 2022.
  17. "Judge declines new arrest warrant for Kyle Rittenhouse". Al Jazeera. Associated Press. February 11, 2021. Archived from the original on November 21, 2021. Retrieved November 21, 2021.
  18. Vielmetti, Bruce (October 26, 2021). "Judge bars prosecutors from referring to men Kyle Rittenhouse shot as 'victims,' but will allow defense to use 'looters'". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Archived from the original on October 27, 2021. Retrieved November 21, 2021.
  19. Hughes, Clyde; Hayes, Danielle (November 11, 2021). "Judge, prosecutor clash during Kyle Rittenhouse trial; defense rests". United Press International. Archived from the original on November 21, 2021. Retrieved November 21, 2021.
  20. Forliti, Amy; Bauer, Scott (November 10, 2021). "EXPLAINER: What's Behind Rittenhouse Mistrial Requests?". NBC Chicago. Archived from the original on November 13, 2021. Retrieved November 21, 2021.
  21. "Prosecutor in Kyle Rittenhouse Case Says He Won't Speak to Media Following End of Trial". NBC Chicago. November 16, 2021. Archived from the original on November 21, 2021. Retrieved November 21, 2021.
  22. Layne, Nathan (November 20, 2021). "Kyle Rittenhouse found not guilty of all charges in Wisconsin murder trial". Reuters. Archived from the original on November 19, 2021. Retrieved November 21, 2021.
  23. "Prosecutor Defends Decision To Charge Rittenhouse With Murder". New York State Bar Association. December 8, 2021. Retrieved October 5, 2023.
  24. Schaff, Mark (April 26, 2016). "Racine County District Attorney Rich Chiapete won't seek re-election". The Journal Times. Archived from the original on November 21, 2021. Retrieved November 21, 2021.
  25. Spoto, Cara (October 6, 2016). "Following intense day, DA candidates talk crime, prosecution". The Journal Times. Archived from the original on November 21, 2021. Retrieved November 21, 2021.
  26. Spoto, Cara (October 17, 2016). "Loans making up fair share of DA campaign dollars". The Journal Times. Archived from the original on November 21, 2021. Retrieved November 21, 2021.
  27. Spoto, Cara (October 7, 2016). "Following intense day, DA candidates talk crime, prosecution". The Journal Times. Archived from the original on November 21, 2021. Retrieved November 21, 2021.
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