Antonio Turner v. State of Indiana

Summary

The Indiana Supreme Court vacated Turner's battery conviction, holding that Indiana's self-defense statute justifies proportionate force that was actually necessary to protect against an imminent threat, even when the defendant's belief in the necessity of force was objectively unreasonable at the time. The court distinguished between hindsight that confirms actual necessity and hindsight that improperly second-guesses the reasonableness of a mistaken belief. Because the trial court found that Turner had to shoot to avoid being shot, his conduct was justified under the statute.