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HOPKINSVILLE, Ky. (AP) — The lawyer for a western Kentucky man facing two murder counts for his role in a fatal crash says his client acted in self-defense.
The Kentucky New Era reports (bit.ly/1OQKxbn) that defense attorney William G. Deatherage Jr. is asking a judge to dismiss charges against his client, Travis Orten. Deatherage says Orten was justified in striking a truck with his SUV in Hopkinsville in July 2015 because the occupants of the truck had attacked Orten beforehand and threatened to kill him and his family.
Two of the truck's passengers died from injuries in the resulting crash. Twenty-three-year-old Jacob Ort and 19-year-old Kendra Lee were both from Montgomery County, Tennessee.
A report from the Christian County Sheriff's Department says a "home invasion" happened at Orten's address shortly before the crash.
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