Ohio Supreme Court Declares Warning Shots Can Be Lawful Self-Defense

Law of Self Defense

Ohio man Tyler Wilson got into a gas station verbal argument with one Billy Reffet. The argument escalated to the point that Wilson felt obliged to fire warning shots into the night sky, claiming he'd intended to merely frighten Reffet off, rather than to harm him.

Wilson would be charged with attempted murder and felonious assault. At trial he attempted to raise the legal defense of self-defense, but the trial judge rejected that request on the grounds that Wilson himself said he merely intended to frighten Reffet, not actually use force against him.

Wilson would be convicted, and appealed.

Last week the Ohio Supreme Court not only agreed that warning shots could qualify as lawful self-defense, but rather unusually also found that Wilson's lawyer had been constitutionally ineffective at trial.

Join us for our reading and analysis of Ohio v. Wilson, 2024-Ohio-776 (OH Supreme Court 2024)!
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