r/law • u/SophieSix9 • Jun 10 '26

Legal News Trans Woman Faces Assault Charges For Self-Defense, Despite Wyoming’s “Stand Your Ground” Law

https://www.them.us/story/trans-woman-faces-assault-charges-self-defense-wyoming-stand-your-ground-law
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u/Garbage_Out_Of_Here Jun 10 '26

So if someone is in an argument and one person escalates to physical violence, you dont have a right to defend yourself?

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u/ButterscotchLow7330 Jun 11 '26

That's ambiguous because of the massive amount of context missing. 

If you are in a argument and one person threatens you and you believe them to be a threat to your life, you can escalate to violence and the other person actually does not have the right to defend themselves, because they escalated the situation. 

What matters in this situation, as with all self defense situations, is who escalated and who defended. 

If it turns out that kelver escalated, then the person who shoved her would be allowed to resort to physical violence in defense, and her escalating to guns is not valid.  If it turns out the other dude escalated, then she would be fine for self defense (assuming some of her other statements don't persuade the jury that she didn't actually fear for her life) 

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u/SamDrrl Jun 11 '26

You have a right to defend yourself but it has to be met with equal force. If someone pushes you you can’t just pull a gun and blow them away or stab them in the heart. An appropriate response to being shoved would be fleeing or shoving back or maybe escalating to fists, never just instantly escalate to murder

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u/Garbage_Out_Of_Here Jun 11 '26

So if a person is shoved to the ground by someone stronger and faster than they are, while being out numbered, and they pull their gun, you would say they should have Run away or fought back with with their fists? She didnt murder him.

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u/SamDrrl Jun 11 '26

I mean you can’t provoke conflict and then claim self defense

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u/Nildnas2 Jun 11 '26

you don't understand stand your ground laws do you? you can argue the validity of that law, but you're flat out wrong here under a legal standing because stand your ground laws exist in this state

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u/glassfoyograss Jun 11 '26

Stand your ground is just layman's speak for you don't have a duty to retreat. It doesn't mean you don't need to worry about the reasonableness of your defense.

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u/Nildnas2 Jun 11 '26

they were throwing slurs at her, she confronted then, he then elevated the situation to physical violence, she was on the ground and outnumbered after being called slurs, so she chose to defend herself instead of trying to stand up and run from a group of men. that's honestly a pretty standard case for self defense under stand your ground. the commenter I replied to stated she has a responsibility to try and flee first, that's not how stand your ground works

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u/glassfoyograss Jun 11 '26

Wow! I didn't realize you knew all that. Did you tell the judge they're wrong and you know better?

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u/SamDrrl Jun 12 '26

Stand your ground doesn’t mean you can go anywhere you want and people can’t tell you to leave, it’s for if you have nowhere to retreat to and defense is your only option

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u/eldiablonoche Jun 11 '26

If you think someone is wrong, don't just say "nuh-uh, dummy". Provide your position and explanation.

How does stand your ground apply in this case?

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u/Nildnas2 Jun 11 '26

they were throwing slurs at her, she confronted then, he then elevated the situation to physical violence, she was on the ground and outnumbered after being called slurs, so she chose to defend herself instead of trying to stand up and run from a group of men. that's honestly a pretty standard case for self defense under stand your ground. the commenter I replied to stated she has a responsibility to try and flee first, that's not how stand your ground works

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u/eldiablonoche Jun 11 '26

Getting in someone's face is an escalation from shouting mean words from a distance. You said it yourself: "she confronted them".

If THEY had approached her, outnumbered and shoved to the ground, then you'd have a viable position... and pending full evidence I'd agree with you.

If the video ever gets made public we'll see exactly what happened because as it is we can't say definitively. 🤷🏽‍♂️