The Andrew Branca Show

This past week Tucker Carlson--whose work I generally admire--did a segment on  the right of self-defense, referencing several recent self-defense cases in the news.  Unfortunately, Tucker's grasp of self-defense law can only be described as tenuous at best, and his ability to apply self-defense law to actual encounters to be lacking in objectivity.  The result is an overall failing grade on...

On January 31, 2023, New Mexico First Judicial District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies filed a statement of probable cause for involuntary manslaughter in the October 21, 2021 shooting death of Halyna Hutchins on the set of low-budget western movie "Rust." My own legal analysis of that event, beginning the day following the shooting, had 13 months prior to the probable cause statement con...

Today's show takes another look at the Murdaugh opening statements by the State and defense, to see who has done the best job of delivering on what they promised to deliver at the start of the trial. JOIN ME LIVE at 3:30 PM ET! THEN at 6PM ET join me again live as I guest on Legal Mindset's live stream, "Alex Murdaugh Week 2 Recap Stream," along with Legal Vices, here: https://...

Tyre Nichols died three days after violently resisting his January 7, 2023 arrest by the Memphis police department. This past Friday, video of that arrest was released.  Now five Memphis police officers have been fired and are facing charges of murder.  Not that it should matter, but the five officers as well as Nichols are all black.  The death of Nichols has become highly politicized, and the ge...

On Wednesday, January 18 the Minnesota Court of Appeals heard oral argument on Derek Chauvin's appeal from his conviction in the death of George Floyd. Chauvin was convicted in Minnesota state court of second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter (note that all of these are unintentional forms of unlawful killing, what most states would refer to as &q...

In the early morning hours of December 13, 2022 a heavily armed Cherokee County NC Sheriff's SWAT team arrived that the trailer home of Jason Kloepfer and Alison Mahler, and began shouting orders at the couple sleeping inside. Awakened, Kloepfer and Mahler stumbled to the door of their trailer, and opened to shouted commands. Quickly, however, numerous shots were fired by officers, striking K...

Today I cover five crazy use-of-force events reported in recent weeks from around the country. Sadly, these crazy use-of-force events aren't as unusual as a reasonable person might wish, but at least they provide the Law of Self Defense community with a learning opportunity. Join me today LIVE at 4:30 PM ET for today's show! NEW! Law of Self Defense ADVANCED Class! This is our full-day c...

Yesterday I was a guest on the YouTube show of Legal Vices, an American lawyer based of out South Korea who specializes in admiralty law. We talked mostly Alec Baldwin's manslaughter case, but also a bit about motorcycles, as well as a California prison lifer who killed two child rapists with whom he'd been imprisoned, and some other random stuff. You can find Legal Vices' YouTube c...

Today I'm joined by the defense team--Attorney Patrick Canan and Attorney Dan Hilbert, both of Canan Law (https://www.cananlaw.com/), who won Luis Casado self-defense immunity in Florida last month! Click here to view/download the post-hearing defense memorandum arguing for immunity. NEW! Law of Self Defense ADVANCED Class! This is our full-day course on the use-of-force in lawful defense of...

On the evening of May 29, 2021, Luis Casado shot and killed a man on a sidewalk outside a bar in St. Augustine FL, after being subject by that man to a barehanded attack.  Following a four-day self-defense immunity hearing held in mid-November 2022, on  December 30, 2022, a Florida court granted Casado immunity from prosecution for that killing, ruling that the State had failed to disprove self-de...

This morning New Mexico District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies announced that actor Alec Baldwin would be charged with two counts of manslaughter in the October 21, 2021 shooting death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins as the two worked together on the set of the low-budget movie “Rust.” This decision to charge Baldwin with manslaughter comes a mere 13 months after my own legal analysis of the sh...

On the evening of May 29, 2021, Luis Casado shot and killed a man on a sidewalk outside a bar in St. Augustine FL, after being subject by that man to a barehanded attack.  Indicted on a charge of manslaughter with a weapon, Casado demanded a self-defense immunity hearing, as permitted under Florida law.  The result of the four-day immunity hearing was a grant of immunity by the hearing judge, free...

On the evening of May 29, 2021, Luis Casado shot and killed a man on a sidewalk outside a bar in St. Augustine FL, after being subject by that man to a barehanded attack.  Indicted on a charge of manslaughter with a weapon, Casado demanded a self-defense immunity hearing, as permitted under Florida law.  The result of the four-day immunity hearing was a grant of immunity by the hearing judge, free...

On the evening of May 29, 2021, Luis Casado shot and killed a man on a sidewalk outside a bar in St. Augustine FL, after being subject by that man to a barehanded attack.  Indicted on a charge of manslaughter with a weapon, Casado demanded a self-defense immunity hearing, as permitted under Florida law.  The result of the four-day immunity hearing was a grant of immunity by the h earing judge, fre...

On the evening of May 29, 2021, Luis Casado shot and killed a man on a sidewalk outside a bar in St. Augustine FL, after being subject by that man to a barehanded attack.  Indicted on a charge of manslaughter with a weapon, Casado demanded a self-defense immunity hearing, as permitted under Florida law.  The result of the four-day immunity hearing was a grant of immunity by the hearing judge, free...

The American Law Courses spring semester 2023 kicked off this week, and launched our course "Evidence Law: Guardrails of Justice." This live course is being taught by Ryan Belanger, a genuine expert in evidence law--Ryan has more than 200 trials under his belt, which is an unbelievably large number--and Ryan KILLED IT in last night's class. In fact, the class was so outstanding I&ap...

On the evening of May 29, 2021, Luis Casado shot and killed a man on a sidewalk outside a bar in St. Augustine FL, after being subject by that man to a barehanded attack.  Indicted on a charge of manslaughter with a weapon, Casado demanded a self-defense immunity hearing, as permitted under Florida law.  The result of the four-day immunity hearing was a grant of immunity by the hearing judge, free...

The American Law Courses spring semester 2023 kicked off yesterday with the launch of our course "American Property: Freedom, Liberty & Ownership." This live course is being taught by Andrew Esquire, a genuine expert in property law--and Andrew ABSOLUTELY CRUSHED last night's class.  In fact, the class was so outstanding I've decided to share with you a brief 20-minute port...

Today's show is a LIVE Q&A, during which I'll answer questions sent in from our Law of Self Defense Platinum Members, as well as take live questions from LOSD Members using the member chat, and questions submitted via Superchat on YouTube ($5 minimum, larger amounts prioritized).  NEW! Law of Self Defense ADVANCED Class! This is our full-day course on the use-of-force in lawful defen...

This past Thursday night, Jan. 5, 2023, an armed and masked armed robber was plying his trade in Ranchito #4 Taqueria in Houston TX, when one of the customers decided to express his objections--in the form of nine rounds fired into the robber, unsurprisingly with fatal results.  The shooter fled the scene and has not yet been identified, although authorities are looking--though they state that the...

This is one of a series of content in which I read from the notable book, "The Art of Cross-Examination," written by NYC Attorney Francis Wellman in 1908, and regularly updated and expanded over the next several decades. The specific book I'm reading from was published in 1948, and was given to me as a gift when I graduated law school in 1991. Enjoy! NEW! Our American Law Courses, l...

This is one of a series of content in which I read from the notable book, "The Art of Cross-Examination," written by NYC Attorney Francis Wellman in 1908, and regularly updated and expanded over the next several decades. The specific book I'm reading from was published in 1948, and was given to me as a gift when I graduated law school in 1991. Enjoy! NEW! Our American Law Courses, l...

This is one of a series of content in which I read from the notable book, "The Art of Cross-Examination," written by NYC Attorney Francis Wellman in 1908, and regularly updated and expanded over the next several decades. The specific book I'm reading from was published in 1948, and was given to me as a gift when I graduated law school in 1991. Enjoy! NEW! Our American Law Courses, l...

This is one of a series of content in which I read from the notable book, "The Art of Cross-Examination," written by NYC Attorney Francis Wellman in 1908, and regularly updated and expanded over the next several decades. The specific book I'm reading from was published in 1948, and was given to me as a gift when I graduated law school in 1991. Enjoy! NEW! Our American Law Courses, l...

This is one of a series of content in which I read from the notable book, "The Art of Cross-Examination," written by NYC Attorney Francis Wellman in 1908, and regularly updated and expanded over the next several decades. The specific book I'm reading from was published in 1948, and was given to me as a gift when I graduated law school in 1991. Enjoy! NEW! Our American Law Courses, l...