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Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Ind. Law - Still more on: "Lawyer says driver is devastated by shooting: Woman had no choice, he said"

As noted in this June 21, 2008 ILB entry, in 2006 the General Assembly passed a law providing that "a person does not have a duty to first try to flee before using deadly force to defend against someone breaking into his home or car." As reported in a June 19, 2008 Louisville Courier Journal story, also quoted in the June 21st entry:

A woman who told Jeffersonville police that she shot a motorcyclist in self-defense "felt she had no choice" because she thought he was going to hit her, her lawyer said yesterday.

No charges have been filed against Yalanda Parrish, 39, of Jeffersonville, in Tuesday's shooting of Wesley Mosier, 52, of Corydon, who remains hospitalized.

This June 25th ILB entry quotes a report that the county prosecutor had referred "the road-rage case" to a grand jury.

Today Grace Schneider of the Louisville Courier Journal reports under the headline "Wounded motorcyclist testifies before grand jury: Decision expected by end of the week." Schneider's story begins:

A Corydon man who was shot last month in what police called a road-rage incident spent 90 minutes yesterday with a Clark Circuit Court grand jury as the panel opened its review of the shooting.

Several other witnesses to the June 17 Jeffersonville shooting of motorcyclist Wesley Mosier, 52, also went before the six-member panel, whose proceedings are closed. The grand jury is expected to decide by the end of the week what, if any, charges should be brought in the case.

Yalanda Parrish, 39, of Jeffersonville, told police she shot Mosier with a .38-caliber handgun. She is expected to go before the grand jury today, although her lawyer, Brian Butler of Louisville, has indicated he may not allow her to answer questions.

Parrish and Mosier have offered sharply contrasting versions of what happened.

Mosier said he got off his motorcycle on 10th Street at Allison Lane and approached Parrish's car to ask her to stop following him so closely. Parrish, who had a permit to carry the gun, told police that she fired in self-defense when Mosier tried to punch her.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on July 15, 2008 09:53 AM
Posted to Indiana Law