The Attorneys at Dixon & Moseley, P.C.
Strong, Trial-Ready Advocates Protecting Your Rights
Indiana has a strong affirmative defense penal provision that allows Hoosiers to protect their life, home/curtilage and stop forcible felonies.1 It is a crime to pull a gun on someone and, if it goes further, to shoot them. However, an affirmative defense means even if the State (the prosecutor) meets all of the elements of the crimes associated with pulling…
A. The right to use force and deadly force in Indiana. Under Indiana’s use of force statute, a person is justified in using reasonable force against another person to protect the person or a third party from what the person believes to be the imminent use of unlawful force. Further, a person is justified in using deadly force and does…
The “Long” Wait for Response and Avoiding Becoming an Aggressor: Will You Remain Silent and Lawyer Up? Any incident where a firearm is pointed in self-defense to the exercise of deadly force is a dynamic event. Any civilian in this position is well advised to provide a request for assistance and identify themselves, but not to make statements without a…
Other than a firearm and certain other obvious (stun guns) items, the Indiana criminal code does not provide a great deal of guidance on what is a deadly weapon for purposes of the exercise of deadly force. It is pretty obvious why this is the case as virtually any object, used in a skillful way, can cause serious bodily injury…
There are numerous legal debates about mistakes you can make carrying a handgun for personal protection. For instance, in a metropolitan community and dense urban area, an argument can be made that open carry and certain body movements in conjunction are intimidation or brandishing? Is leaving a carry gun at a restaurant or in a bathroom such that it makes…
On Monday, the Indiana Court of Appeals decided an important case relating to the gun community and criminal defense; it decided and what is deadly force by a “deadly weapon”. In Indiana, the affirmative defense of self-defense may be raised when a person uses deadly force in response to infliction of serious bodily injury from a “deadly weapon”, a forcible…
Nationally, and certainly within the state of Indiana, a great deal of public interest has been garnered with the passage of the castle doctrine and its companion doctrine, standing one’s ground, into law. However, every seasoned criminal defense attorney knows this defense is poorly understood across the board. Prosecutors, who serve the public, also understand this—although they often have very…
Be Informed, Not the Criminal Defendant By any account, Indiana is unique in its identification with the right to keep and bear arms. For instance, hundreds of thousands of Hoosiers have a License to Carry Handgun. While the need for a license, and in some general sense understanding of the need for training on safe gun handling is widely accepted…
Federal, state and local gun laws are sometimes driven by emotion following a high profile event in the news as well as policy. Understanding four key dynamics of the law will allow you to stay out of jail and be a respectful gun owner. First, firearms are by design, much like chain saws, gasoline, and baseball bats, inherently dangerous items.…
No, Indiana case has decided this matter to answer this question. attorneys frequently handle cases that have firearms dimensions, both at the trial court level and on appeal. A question that arises with some regularity in our practice and the news of the day is where a person used a firearm to defend himself from a vicious dog or animal…