Court denies appeal in fatal porch shooting

DEARBORN HEIGHTS (AP) — The Michigan Supreme Court has denied a Detroit-area man’s request for a new trial in the 2013 fatal shooting of an unarmed woman on his porch.

The court said recently it would not review Theodore Wafer’s argument that jurors should have been given instruction that said he shot Renisha McBride because her actions showed she was breaking into his house.

Wayne County Judge Dana Hathaway explained self-defense to jurors but rejected that specific instruction.

Hathaway said the evidence didn’t show that McBride, who was drunk and had crashed her car, was trying to break into Wafer’s home.

The court of appeals upheld Hathaway’s decision.

Supreme Court Chief Justice Stephen Markman dissented, writing that Wafer was “deprived of a critical protection at trial” which “prejudiced the outcome.”