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Saturday, February 18, 2006

Ind. Decisions - Court reinforces right to resist excessive force

An AP story today by Charles Wilson, published here in the Lafayette Journal & Courier, and briefly here in the Indianapolis Star, reports on the Court of Appeals decision yesterday in Shane Allen Wilson v. State of Indiana (see ILB entry here). Some quotes from the story:

A judge erred when he didn't tell jurors that a man convicted of fleeing arrest had the right to resist police if they used excessive force, the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled Friday.

The unanimous decision reversed Shane Allen Wilson's conviction in Tippecanoe Superior Court.

Judge Les A. Meade erred when he decided that a common law rule allowing a person to resist arrest to avoid injury was outdated and no longer applied, the three-judge panel ruled.

Wilson's attorney had asked Meade to include a reference to the doctrine in the jury instructions, but he declined.

"There has been no abrogation of the common law rule allowing an arrestee to resist arrest to avoid personal injury or death when the arresting officers engage in excessive force," Appeals Court Senior Judge Betty Barteau wrote in the 10-page opinion.

"Furthermore, the rule should be interpreted to encompass a situation where an arrestee determines to retreat rather than escalate the violence."

According to court documents, Wilson fled on Sept. 6, 2003, when Clinton County Sheriff's Deputy Matthew Myers and Mulberry Town Marshal Glenn Wilson tried to shoot out the tires of his pickup truck after stopping him about 10 miles southeast of Lafayette for violating probation.

One of the shots went through the rear window and out the windshield, causing Shane Wilson to suffer a head injury. He later surrendered without incident.

He said afterward that he fled after the officers fired because he feared for his life.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on February 18, 2006 07:06 PM
Posted to Ind. App.Ct. Decisions