DAWSON, Iowa (AP) - An Oskaloosa man charged in the stabbing death of a college basketball player in Oskaloosa will go to trial next month after a judge rejected his “stand your ground” defense.
Television station KCCI reports that the judge on Tuesday denied 24-year-old Luke VanHemert’s argument that he was defending himself when he fatally stabbed 22-year-old William Penn player Marquis Todd in March 2018.
Iowa’s “stand your ground” law, enacted in 2017, 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.
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VanHemert’s lawyers argued that he was defending himself during a fight that began with a car crash and that VanHemert should be exempt from prosecution. But the judge says Iowa’s law does not apply in the case.
VanHemert’s second-degree murder trial is set to begin April. 9.
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Information from: KCCI-TV, http://www.kcci.com
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