Iowa Judge Denies Immunity To Permit Holder On ‘Stand Your Ground’ Claim

By Tom Knighton

The purpose of “Stand Your Ground” laws is to protect people from being convicted when acting in self-defense. By removing a duty to retreat, the idea is that people who act in self-defense won’t be prosecuted for acting when faced with a threat.

That’s the theory, at least.

Unfortunately, while “Stand Your Ground” can be used as a defense, it doesn’t mean you’re not going to court, as one man in Iowa is finding out.

A judge on Monday denied a request by a Cedar Rapids man to receive protection from prosecution under Iowa’s “stand your ground” law after he and another man shot at each other earlier this year.

Michael G. Hodges, Jr. of Cedar Rapids claimed he should not have to go to trial after he and Zevon L. Johnson of Urbandale shot almost simultaneously at each other early in the morning Jan. 28 outside Pub 217, a bar and restaurant in downtown Cedar Rapids.

Hodges, 23, shot and injured Johnson, 21, in the encounter, while Johnson’s shot missed Hodges.

Patrick Grady, Iowa’s sixth judicial district’s chief judge, denied Hodges’ claim to dismiss the case against him, writing that Iowa’s law lacks a procedure to determine whether Hodges should receive …Read the Rest

Source:: Bearing Arms