photo by: Kim Callahan/Journal-World
The Douglas County Judicial and Law Enforcement Center is pictured on Nov. 25, 2025.
A Lawrence woman accused of pulling a knife on a convenience store clerk last fall will not be immune from prosecution based on her claim of self-defense, a Douglas County judge ruled Wednesday.
Judge Stacey Donovan said that after “painstakingly reviewing” six videos from the store it was evident to her that the defendant, Jazmine Porchia, had pulled a knife on the clerk and had opened its blade. She said Porchia’s back was never to the clerk and that the clerk showed signs of retreating when the woman’s elbow went back as though wielding a knife. Donovan noted that the store’s surveillance cameras indicated “tensions were high” between Porchia and the clerk, even though no sound was captured.
As the Journal-World reported, Porchia has been charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, as well as misdemeanor charges of theft and criminal trespass in the Nov. 16, 2025, incident at the Kwik Shop at 2100 W. 25th St.
The state’s version of events is that Porchia pulled the knife because she believed the clerk had been rude to her. The defendant’s version is that she was innocently acting in self-defense after she feared for her safety.
Under Kansas law, a person may justifiably use force against another only when she subjectively believes her use of force is necessary to prevent the person from harming herself or another, and her belief is objectively reasonable under the same circumstances.
The state had argued that Porchia’s self-defense claim failed this test because she was the aggressor in a conflict with an unarmed person who fearfully retreated from the encounter and because “she was engaged in the commission of a forcible felony (aggravated assault) at the time of her conduct.”
Donovan noted that Porchia could have just left the store instead of repeatedly approaching and retreating from the clerk, who was then back behind the counter, with her knife.
Donovan’s denial of the immunity motion means the prosecution will proceed. Porchia’s next court date is a status conference on April 28.
