TBA Law Blog


Posted by: Julia Wilburn on Nov 17, 2023

Shelby County Circuit Court Judge Carol Chumney ruled Thursday that Tennessee’s “stand your ground” law, formally known as the self-defense immunity statute, applies to a civil lawsuit involving Memphis Grizzlies star Ja Morant. The Daily Memphian reports that the case will proceed to an immunity hearing where Morant will have to prove that he acted in self-defense during a July 2022 fight with Joshua Holloway, from which the lawsuit stems, and therefore is immune from civil suit. Holloway's attorney has argued that the law does not apply in this case because it is a criminal statute and the case at issue is a civil matter, which Judge Chumney ruled irrelevant.