I am not a lawyer. Do not consider this to be legal advice. This information is merely being presented to provide a basic understanding of what the law looks for in a self-defense situation. All information has been researched and will be cited when applicable.
Self-defense conjures up a number of images and scenarios for individuals. For some it could mean using a firearm in their home as someone kicks in the door at 2 a.m. For others it could mean defending themselves against a car jacker in the mall parking lot. And still others, may think about defending themselves due to an attack based on gender, religion, political viewpoint, etc.
No matter what image or scenario you have developed in your mind due to your specific life circumstances, there are several key things to keep in mind when understanding the legal aspects of self-defense. In this series we will look at each aspect of the legal argument for self-defense one at a time. As stated in the title, the focus will be on self-defense in the home. It is crucial that you understand all of the aspects individually because if there is a problem with any one of them you may be negating your claim of legal self-defense.
Innocence, Avoidance, Imminence, Reasonableness, and Proportionality are all key factors in being able to rightfully make a legally justifiable self-defense claim. For Pat 1 of the series, we will discuss Innocence.
Innocence
At face value, innocence seems pretty straight forward. “I did nothing wrong, they attacked me and I defended myself, I’m innocent,” would stand as a fairly normal statement. However, it may not be so simple. Fortunately, from a home defense perspective, if the person is illegally entering your home then in most states you have the right to use force to defend yourself and anyone else in the home. However, you do have to be careful and you need to understand your states laws-Duty to Retreat, Stand Your Ground, or Castle Doctrine.
Innocence can be tricky if you open yourself up to any form of previous dispute with the attacker. Let’s look at an example:
You and your neighbor have had a rocky relationship over the years. You share a fence in the backyard and there are continual disputes about maintenance, tree branches growing over each other’s property lines, and a slew of other petty arguments. One day an argument boils over and your neighbor starts to scream at you and enters your property. You scream back and tell him you’re going to kill him if he comes any closer.
At this point other neighbors are nearby and have seen and heard what has occurred. He is not armed and hasn’t threatened any violence. You begin to enter your home and he follows, standing on the front porch. You grab a firearm from inside and shoot. After the police arrive, you claim self-defense.
Is this self-defense?
Let’s look at this point by point.
1.) You and your neighbor have a history of disputes.
2.) You had an argument that was publicly seen, your neighbor didn’t threaten you, but you threatened him.
3.) Your neighbor followed you onto your property and was standing on the front porch but didn’t make any further movement into the home.
4.) You shot and killed him.
Now, you have witnesses that are reporting to the police what they heard and saw. Could your case be taken apart on the innocence front? In my opinion, yes. To be considered innocent, you must be just that, innocent. There are several other issues that would affect a valid self-defense case but we will cover those topics in other parts of this series.
Understanding what true innocence means is very important to understanding whether you should be using lethal force in a home-defense situation. In the above situation, had the person who had retrieved a firearm simply held it and told the neighbor to leave, he could have been charged with brandishing but wouldn’t have killed a person. If the firearms owner then tried to diffuse the situation and the neighbor threatened violence and stormed the home aggressively with intent to cause harm, then it most likely would have been justifiable self-defense.
If there are any factors that you think could affect your claim of innocence then you need to think twice about using lethal force. If at any point during a home invasion you stop to think whether what you are doing could land you in prison, then most likely you are doing something wrong.
As I continue this series, I encourage you to study and research self-defense laws not only in your state but overall. A book that I highly recommend is “The Law of Self Defense Principles” by Andrew Branca. You an also read work from individuals like Evan Nappen, a self-defense lawyer. Study lawyers and cases that actually pertain to self-defense situations. If you live an innocent life then most likely you will be treated as innocent in the eyes of a prosecutor.
Stay safe. Stay practical. Stay educated.
Pat
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