Judge Lucy Gamon has denied Luke Vanhemert’s claim of immunity from prosecution under Iowa’s “Stand Your Ground Law”.   In overruling the Defendant’s Motion to Force Immunity, Judge Gamon distinguished the Iowa law from a similar statute in Florida holding that under Iowa Law, a Defendant is immune only for  a claim of damages, not from criminal prosecution for the use or threatened use of force.  Vanhemert, who is charged with second-degree murder in the stabbing death of William Penn student Marquis Todd on March 1, 2018, will stand trial as scheduled in Mahaska County District Court commencing on April 9.