kyle rittenhouse
© Sean Krajacic/Pool via ReutersKyle Rittenhouse walks during his trial at the Kenosha County Courthouse in Kenosha, Wis., November 19, 2021.
Oklahoma state Sen. Nathan Dahm announced that he filed a self-defense law named after Kyle Rittenhouse.

The legislation would ensure that Oklahomans who use self-defense won't have to face trial for political reasons, according to a news release. If the measure becomes law, Dahm says victims of malicious prosecution would be able to receive compensation for expenses and damages.

Dahm filed Senate Bill 1120, which is called "Kyle's Law," on Tuesday.

A jury recently acquitted Rittenhouse of all charges in the deaths of two men and wounding of a third during a protest in Kenosha, Wisconsin, in 2020. He claimed self-defense in the shootings.

"Kyle Rittenhouse should never have been charged. The video evidence from early on showed it was lawful self-defense," said Dahm, R-Broken Bow. "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."

The measure says that if a person is charged with murder but is found not guilty due to justifiable homicide, Oklahoma would have to reimburse the defendant for all reasonable costs, including loss of wages, legal fees and other expenses involved in their defense.

If the homicide is determined justified and the defense proves that they sustained injury due to malicious prosecution, the proposed bill says the person will be awarded "fair and just compensation."

The bill also states that to claim malicious prosecution, the claimant must prove that the prosecution was instituted or instigated by the prosecutor and was without probable cause; the prosecution had legally and finally been terminated in favor of the claimant and the claimant sustained an injury because of the criminal prosecution.

Malice can be established if the motive for the prosecution was something other than wanting to bring the offender to justice, or that it was one will ill will or hatred or willfully done in a wanton or oppressive manner and in conscious disregard of the claimant's rights, according to the news release.

Under the legislation, the bill says a prosecutor may be held personally liable to a claimant if malicious prosecution is established.