Here is todays Fox59 Indianapolis station article on this:
“It could be that all twelve people view that differently, so that’s the hard part with these kinds of self-defense cases, is what objectionably would a reasonable person do, and sometimes that varies from person-to-person,” she said. ” It’s hard to separate that because that statute does require both the subjective belief, so his belief, and the objective belief. There are two components to the statute. It’s hard to say one or the other, but I do think it will come down to there will be a lot of gun rights information surrounding this.”
In a prepared statement, Andersen’s attorney Guy Relford indicated that Indiana’s “Castle Doctrine” of self-defense would apply to this case and, “law allows a person to use reasonable force, including deadly force, if he reasonably believes that such force is necessary to prevent an unlawful entry into his home.”
“Once self-defense is put in front of the jury, it is the State’s burden to disprove self-defense beyond a reasonable doubt,” said Benson-Kooy. ”This does require two different components; the self-defense statute does have two different components, so it’s not only what he was feeling, what Mr. Anderson was feeling that day, but also as citizens in a jury, what we believe someone reasonable would do that day.”
Benson-Kooy expects that Andersen’s mental health status and life experiences will be raised during the trial to explain his actions that morning.
”It will be imperative to know what led up to the fear and not just that day, but what in his history made him so fearful that day.”