ST. LOUIS (AP) — A defense lawyer says a man had “no duty to retreat” before fatally shooting a rehabber who entered the man’s duplex through an open door and asked if anyone wanted a job.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that Joel Schwartz cited the “castle doctrine” Thursday in his defense of 43-year-old Kevin Ashton Patrick. The doctrine gives residents the right to use deadly force to defend themselves or their home if they reasonably believe that it’s immediately necessary.
Patrick was released on bond after he was charged Tuesday with first-degree involuntary manslaughter in the shooting of 56-year-old Clenelle Johnson.
Schwartz said that Patrick was moving a radiator at the time, and was unable to hear whether Johnson said anything. Schwartz described the shooting as a “tragedy.”
