Interesting Recent Criminal Defense Case - and the “Castle Doctrine”
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We just got done representing a man who was accused of shooting his step-son in our client’s home.
The step-son did not die from his wounds, but our client was charged with a serious crime called “Felonious Assault.” As indicted, the charge required my client to spend at least three years in prison.
However, by working with the prosecution and pointing out how the “Castle Doctrine” worked in Ohio, we were able to get the prosecution to reduce the charge to a very low level misdemeanor - for which our client received no jail time whatsoever.
In Ohio, a law called the “Castle Doctrine” provides that a person is permitted to use deadly force in their home if a person enters that home without the homeowner’s consent. The doctrine is somewhat complicated, but it can apply to situations faced by people like our client.
The step-son in this case had been thrown out of the home, and charged back in anyway (with some in the home suspecting he might have gone to get a gun).
