News Archive

A man running from police and hiding in a shed on a homeowner’s property was shot by the homeowner when he ran away. That may not be enough to protect the homeowner from criminal charges for using deadly force against a suspect who may not have proved to be a threat to the homeowner. Professor Novella Nedeff, ’83, and Professor Joel Schumm, ’98, talked about the case in a story for the South Bend Tribune.

The running man, who was wanted by police on two warrants, may not have been threatening the homeowner, the story indicates. Professor Schumm talked about the castle doctrine, and whether the homeowner needed to use force to remove the person from the property. “You can’t just shoot a person because they’re unlawfully on the land,” Professor Schumm said in the story. “You have to have a reasonable belief that you have to use force.”

Professor Nedeff talked in the story about whether the man was threatening the homeowner. “I think for this person to successfully avail himself of self-defense, he better hope there are some more factors,” Professor Nedeff said in the piece.

Professor Schumm is a magna cum laude graduate of IU McKinney who directs the Appellate Clinic and the Judicial Externship Program.

Professor Nedeff is a clinical professor of law and teaches in the Criminal Defense Clinic.