Castle Doctrine

The State of Montana issued its response late Tuesday afternoon to arguments put forth by attorneys for convicted murderer Markus Kaarma in asking for a new trial.

Attorneys for convicted murderer Markus Kaarma have officially filed their opening brief for an appeal with the Montana Supreme Court, according to Nate Holloway of Paul Ryan and Associates.

Hot on the heels of the recent Markus Kaarma decision, Montana is faced with yet another home invasion shooting trial, which is likely to revive discussions about the Castle Doctrine and, so called, "Stand Your Ground" laws.

Markus Kaarma was found guilty of the deliberate homicide of German exchange student Diren Dede in Missoula on Wednesday afternoon.

The man who lived next door to Markus Kaarma and Janelle Pflager on the night of the shooting testified that Janelle Pflager asked him about Montana gun laws on or about April 22, leading to a brief discussion of the Stand Your Ground defense. Five days later, Markus Kaarma fatally shot German exchange student Diren Dede, who was trespassing in his garage.

The lead attorney for Markus Kaarma, Paul Ryan of Missoula, has filed his revised expert witness list for the trial scheduled to begin on December 1.

Missoula District Judge Ed McLean said on Wednesday that he will give local media preferential coverage of the Markus Kaarma trial over that of national and international media.

The attorneys representing accused murderer Markus Kaarma received a favorable ruling from District Judge Ed McClean last Friday.

The murder trial of Markus Kaarma, originally scheduled to begin on January 5, 2015 has now been moved up to begin in December of this year.