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Defense says charges in St. Croix stabbing should be dropped

By: Associated Press//July 7, 2015//

Defense says charges in St. Croix stabbing should be dropped

By: Associated Press//July 7, 2015//

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BALSAM LAKE, Wis. (AP) — An attorney for a Minnesota man accused in a fatal stabbing along the St. Croix River says charges against him should be dropped.

Authorities say 19-year-old Levi Acre-Kendall stabbed 34-year-old Peter Kelly after an argument along the river in April. Acre-Kendall has pleaded not guilty to first-degree reckless homicide.

The Star Tribune reports a motion was recently filed in a Wisconsin court by defense attorney Eric Nelson. He argues in the motion that the stabbing was in self-defense.

Nelson says Acre-Kendall had retreated to a friend’s car when Kelly put him in a “shoulder lock,” and that Kelly was then stabbed once in the chest. Nelson argues the case should be dismissed because Wisconsin’s “castle doctrine,” which gives legal protections to home and business owners, also applies to cars.

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