A Michigan man facing second-degree murder charges after fatally shooting his mother’s ex-boyfriend has been cleared by a judge, who ruled the defendant was acting in self-defense when he pulled the trigger. 

24-year-old Christopher Peterson was arrested and charged with the murder of 49-year-old Dante Carey in early July. Robert Burton-Harris, who’s Peterson’s attorney, says the judge dismissed the case after a preliminary hearing in early September, about two months after the shooting took place. 

Burton-Harris said Michigan has one of the stronger self-defense laws in the country and if an attorney admits evidence of self-defense, prosecutors have to present evidence to rebut that claim.

“My client, like anybody, is happy to not have the most serious charges hanging over his head, but he is not happy about the situation,” Burton-Harris said. “He’s certainly not happy about having to do what he had to do. He understands and acknowledges someone lost their life. It’s a very unfortunate situation.”

Peterson, a legal gun owner, got into an argument with Carey at a home in Romulus, Michigan on the evening of July 3rd. When police arrived, Carey had been shot multiple times, and passed away from his injuries after he was taken to a local hospital. 

Neither Burton-Harris nor prosecutor Maria Miller elaborated on what evidence, exactly, convinced the judge that Peterson was defending himself when he shot Carey, but Peterson’s attorney says that Carey had previously abused his client’s mother.  

Carey had a “long lengthy history” of domestic violence against Peterson’s mother, Burton-Harris said, and was on a tether for an unrelated assault with the intent to do great bodily harm less than murder and felonious assault case at the time of his death. The case was dismissed after Carey’s death.

If Peterson had been convicted at trial, he could have faced life behind bars for Carey’s death. Prosecutors still have the ability to appeal Judge Brian Oakley’s decision to dismiss the charges against the gun owner, but Miller told the Detroit News that the D.A.’s office hasn’t yet decided if they will do so. 

This case is a reminder that, no matter how clear cut a self-defense claim might be in the eyes of armed citizens forced to protect themselves, police and prosecutors may very well decide to pursue criminal charges. We’re watching that play out in Newton, Massachusetts as well, where a lawful gun owner is now facing criminal charges for shooting the man who assaulted him over his support for Israel. Though Middlesex County District Attorney Marian Ryan admits that Hayes wasn’t the initial aggressor and Caleb Gannon “ran across the street and tackled Hayes to the ground”, escalating a verbal dispute to a physical assault, Ryan has still charged Hayes with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon.

The attorney for Hayes says his client was clearly acting in self-defense, but for now, anyway, Ryan is still pursuing charges against both Hayes and the man who attacked him. The D.A. did say in her most recent statement that the investigation continues, but with Hayes not due back in court until early November, he too could be waiting months in the hopes that a judge will clear his name and dismiss the charges against him.