After a heated argument with her partner in which she grabbed a machete, Donjane Smith was arrested for aggravated assault. She claimed self-defense.

In 2020, Heather Guerra was involved in a car crash that killed her son, Julian. She faced charges of manslaughter and aggravated assault.

In January 2021, a man crashed into Lawrence Leonarduzzi, a flagger directing traffic at a work site in Iron County, Michigan, causing his death. But was it a crime or an accident?

More than 22 years after the murder of Keith Jones, a veteran Marine, his friend, Michelle Ashley, was charged with his murder. But was the real killer—or killers—caught?

The idea that people have a right to defend themselves—even using force that would otherwise be illegal—harks back centuries and formed the basis of the American legal system. We navigate the murky and still-evolving world of self-defense laws in the U.S.

One in nine men experience severe physical violence at the hands of intimate partners. And when they do, their survival is uniquely challenging.

Producers Malcolm and Xander Brinkworth speak with A&E True Crime about what makes their show so unique.