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Law of Self Defense Tag

Posted by Andrew Branca on February 15, 2019 49 Comments
The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office in Arizona has released, under court order, the body camera footage of Sheriff’s Deputy Brandon Wells, who stopped accused ISIS knife attacker Ismail Hamed the old-fashioned way—by demonstrating once again why it’s not a good idea to bring a knife to a gunfight. Hamed now stands charged by Arizona authorities with aggravated assault and terrorism. (As reported by AZ Central.) The events took place on January 7, but the body cam video and 911 recordings were only recently released under court order, in response to motions filed by media outlets for disclosure. (The body cam video footage is embedded below.)

Facts of the Case

The apparent facts of the case are that Hamed called 911 himself, stating:
My name is Ismail Hamed. I live in Fountain Hills, and I'm owing my allegiance to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. I just want a cop to come real quick and I want to deal with them.

Posted by Andrew Branca on February 01, 2019 12 Comments
This Case of the Week focuses on a real-world example of the application of the self-defense law doctrine of “regaining innocence.” One of the five elements of a claim of self-defense justification for a use-of-force against another person is the element of innocence, which denies the justification of self-defense to a person who was the initial aggressor in a fight. “Initial aggressor” generally means the person who was the first to threaten or use unlawful physical force against another. So that’s that, right? The initial aggressor loses the legal justification of self-defense? Not so fast! As the late-night TV infomercials say, “Wait! There’s more!”

Posted by Andrew Branca on January 24, 2019 58 Comments
This Case of the Week involves an Indianapolis man who successfully ambushed three home burglars, killing one and driving off the others, who were ultimately arrested. (Click here for a link to the news report by the IndyStar.) Local prosecutors have announced that they do not intend to bring charges against the defender. Based on the reported facts this appears to be a perfectly sound call by prosecutors. So, a big win for the good guy, right?

Posted by Andrew Branca on January 19, 2019 119 Comments
This week's Case of the Week involves a video that has been making the rounds on the internet showing a large white man apparently knocking out a smaller young black woman with a single punch. I've seen reports that the man has been arrested and presume that he will attempt to justify his punch as a lawful use of defensive force.

Posted by Andrew Branca on December 11, 2018 48 Comments
A lot of people have been forwarding me articles about Cyntoia Brown, who was convicted of first-degree murder and aggravated robbery when she was a 16-year-old prostitute. Recent news coverage includes this very sympathetic piece from CNN and another from NPR, as well as a deluge of similarly sympathetic coverage from a variety of other sources. Brown unsuccessfully argued self-defense at her trail. The court sentenced her to life in prison. She will first be eligible for parole after serving 51 years of her sentence.

Posted by Andrew Branca on December 05, 2018 41 Comments
I came across this brief news article about a confrontation between a black FedEx driver, Timothy Warren, and an angry man who repeatedly shouted racial epithets at him. The driver killed the man. Prosecutors have decided against bring charges against the driver, despite the death of the victim. Based on the facts as reported, that appears to be the legally correct decision.

Posted by Andrew Branca on November 29, 2018 34 Comments
This case of the week involves a Montana man who reportedly shot his hunting partner just as they returned from a hunt to their cars in a K-Mart parking lot, according to this ABC Fox news report. The shooter is said to be an NRA Instructor in handgun and rifle. The victim was struck in the chest by a rifle round and died a short time later at a local hospital.

Posted by Andrew Branca on November 22, 2018 18 Comments
I came across this recent very brief, four paragraph, news story out of Illinois a few days ago of a defendant acquitted in a bench trial on several felony charges after he stabbed someone 10 times with a 2.5” knife during a road rage incident. I noted that it conveniently provided a good basis for discussing several interesting legal points that often arise in cases of self-defense.

Posted by Andrew Branca on November 17, 2018 35 Comments
This past Wednesday the Ohio House voted by a 64 to 26 margin to pass HB 228, which seeks to bring Ohio self-defense law into the modern era. It is believed by advocates of this legal advance that the Senate version of the bill will pass that chamber easily, and with sufficient votes to overcome a promised veto by Ohio Governor John Kasich (R). Although the bill makes several changes to Ohio self-defense and gun law, the changes of most interest in the context of self-defense involve changes to the burden of persuasion on a legal claim of self-defense and the adoption of a “hard” stand-your-ground provision.

Posted by Andrew Branca on November 16, 2018 26 Comments
This “Case of the Week” involves a conviction and sentencing out of Texas this past week, in which Terry Thompson was sentenced to 25 years in prison as a result of his use of a BJJ-style choke hold that caused the death John Hernandez in May 2017, as reported this week by KTRK (ABC) Television News. I also previously covered this case right here at Legal Insurrection: “Law of Self Defense: Murder re-trial for man who confronted public urination.”

Posted by Andrew Branca on October 26, 2018 13 Comments
This Case of the Week is not so much a case of self-defense law as it is a case of mischaracterization of self-defense law. As sure as the sun rises in the East and sets in the West, the media will continue to mischaracterize “Stand-Your-Ground” in terms of both actual application and as legal doctrine. A recent example came across my desk this week from a publication named “Black Voice News,” in an article you can find by clicking here.
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