The Minnesota Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday that Minnesotans faced with a potentially violent aggressor must first retreat, if possible, and only brandish a “dangerous weapon” to deter the aggressor when retreat is not an option.
The 4-2 ruling significantly restricts the ability of Minnesotans to defend themselves against violent aggressors who cross their path.
Dissenting from the majority’s opinion, Associate Justice Paul Thissen said the court’s decision was “unprecedented in the United States” and “flies in the face of human nature.” Joining Thissen in his dissent was Justice Karl Procaccini.
The court’s decision centered on a June 2021 altercation involving several individuals who were standing on a light rail station platform by U.S. Bank Stadium.
On June 2, 2021, a woman and a man were loitering on a light rail station platform when Earley Romero Blevins walked past them. The woman reportedly said something to Blevins which started an argument between Blevins and the woman. The man, who was armed with a knife, approached Blevins and allegedly told Blevins to step into the platform shelter so the man could cut Blevins’ throat.
Blevins responded by pulling a machete from his pants and moved toward the two.
At this point, another man joined the pair and the first man put away his knife. Blevins proceeded to brandish his machete at the trio. Blevins later said he was attempting to get the group to back off. Then, a bystander attempted to disarm Blevins. While Blevins was wrestling for control of the machete, the trio began to walk away before the second man returned and stabbed Blevins.
Blevins was subsequently charged with three counts of assault in the second degree for using a dangerous weapon to instill fear. These three felony charges were tried in Hennepin County Court.
In arguing his case, Blevins said he was acting in self-defense to deter the aggressors. However, prosecutors said Blevins had the ability to retreat from the situation and therefore should have retreated before brandishing a weapon. Blevins was convicted on two of the three counts and sentenced to three years and three months in prison.
After the Minnesota Court of Appeals affirmed Blevins’ conviction, the Minnesota Supreme Court decided to hear the case.
The Supreme Court upheld both the court of appeals’ ruling and Blevins’ conviction.
In their opinion, the Minnesota Supreme Court’s majority said “we hold that a person claiming self-defense has a duty to retreat when reasonably possible before committing the felony offense of second-degree assault-fear with a dangerous weapon, specifically, a device designed as a weapon and capable of producing death or great bodily harm.”
As such, the majority expanded the “duty to retreat” rule to include people who use a “dangerous weapon” to deter potentially violent aggressors.
Associate Justice Margaret Chutich authored the ruling for the majority which also included Chief Justice Natalie Hudson, Associate Justice Anne McKeig, and Associate Justice Gordon Moore. One justice, Sarah Hennesy did not participate in the proceedings as she was not a member of the court when the case was argued.
Dissenting, Justice Thissen slammed the court’s decision, saying, “Until now, the collective wisdom of judges nationwide over hundreds of years has never imposed a duty to retreat before making threats to deter an aggressor.”
The third-most senior member of the court, Thissen acknowledged that Minnesota requires people to retreat, if possible, before physically harming an aggressor. However, the justice said that the “duty to retreat” has never applied when someone seeks to issue reasonable threats of force to deter an aggressor.
The associate justice did not opine on whether Blevins’ threats of force were reasonable. Instead, Thissen said the court should reverse Blevins’ conviction and remand the matter for a new trial to determine if Blevins’ threats were reasonable or not.
Thissen also said the majority’s new rule restricting people’s ability to deter violent aggressors “takes the law of self-defense into uncharted water.”
All seven members of the Minnesota Supreme Court were appointed by Democratic governors; two were appointed by Gov. Mark Dayton and five were appointed by Gov. Tim Walz.
Luke Sprinkel
Luke Sprinkel previously worked as a Legislative Assistant at the Minnesota House of Representatives. He grew up as a Missionary Kid (MK) living in England, Thailand, Tanzania, and the Middle East. Luke graduated from Regent University in 2018.
