Not a lawyer, but I even suspect that there's a burden-of-proof issue with this. In defamation, you basically have to prove that someone lied (i.e. prove that Rittenhouse is not a murderer, in this case). A criminal "not guilty" verdict isn't proof that someone didn't commit murder; it is a statement that it was not definitively proven ("beyond a reasonable doubt") that they ARE a murderer. It is only criminal court where you are "innocent until proven guilty". Hence why wrongful death lawsuits (where it's just "preponderance of evidence" shit) can succeed even if criminal murder charges fail.
I said people, I more meant news outlets
Not a lawyer, but I even suspect that there's a burden-of-proof issue with this. In defamation, you basically have to prove that someone lied (i.e. prove that Rittenhouse is not a murderer, in this case). A criminal "not guilty" verdict isn't proof that someone didn't commit murder; it is a statement that it was not definitively proven ("beyond a reasonable doubt") that they ARE a murderer. It is only criminal court where you are "innocent until proven guilty". Hence why wrongful death lawsuits (where it's just "preponderance of evidence" shit) can succeed even if criminal murder charges fail.