A judge has refused to set a pretrial hearing for a man who says Iowa’s “stand your ground” law protects him from prosecution for a fatal bar fight in a Des Moines suburb.
The Des Moines Register reports that Judge Scott Rosenberg ruled last week that Rodney Henricksen must wait until trial to show his actions were justified.
Henricksen has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder in the Jan. 18 death of Joshua Sadlon, of Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Henricksen’s motion for the hearing says Henricksen was defending himself from an intoxicated and aggressive Sadlon at the Urbandale bar.
The law says a person doesn’t have to retreat before using deadly force if he or she reasonably thinks his or her life is being threatened.
Rosenberg said in his ruling that the law doesn’t provide a procedure for determining when someone is eligible for immunity.
