Unreasonable but Honest?

solarbird seems upset at this piece of news:

Sedgwick County District Judge Warren Wilbert ruled Friday that attorneys for [Scott] Roeder can argue that he shot [Dr. George] Tiller to protect the lives of unborn babies — and, therefore, could be guilty of voluntary manslaughter instead of first-degree murder.

The judge said Roeder could not argue that the killing was actually justified but rather that he had an unreasonable but honest belief that the circumstances justified deadly force.

Now, admitting the argument in court is not the same as finding the argument persuasive. From what I've heard, the general principle is to error on the side of admitting useless arguments, especially from the defense (either based on the principle that a defendant should be allowed as vigorous a defense as possible, or the desire to avoid appeals based on a particular argument being excluded).

I wished the article contained a bit more legal context, though. So I went to look stuff up.

( Still Am Not A Lawyer )