Ellis v. State

In spite of the long and tortuous path this case has taken through the judicial system, our attention is now directed to a single issue: whether appellee had a bona fide claim of self-defense when he used nonlethal force to defend himself in response to an attack by a commercial landlord who allegedly struck appellee as he attempted to enter the landlord’s business premises in order to retrieve his stepson from an altercation within. For the reasons set forth below, we hold that appellee did not prove by a preponderance of the evidence that he was justified in entering the business premises,…