The "stand your ground" law that was a hot-button issue during the Trayvon Martin case in Florida, could get renewed attention in the Michigan in the case involving a motorist who fatally shot a man in what has been described as a road rage incident.
Wayne Peal of Gannett Michigan reports that the attorney for Livingston County resident Martin Edward Zale will claim self-defense at his murder trial.
Zale, 69, is accused of killing Derek Flemming, a 43-year-old Howell resident, Sept. 2 during a confrontation on the road.
Zale would have to prove that his life was in imminent danger.
The news report states:
Michigan’s Self Defense Act, which went into effect in 2006, says an individual “may use deadly force against another individual anywhere he or she has the legal right to be with no duty to retreat,” as long as “the individual honestly and reasonably believes that the use of deadly force is necessary to prevent the imminent death,” great bodily harm or sexual assault of himself, herself or another person.
