"Castle Doctrine" - A Parking Lot Discussion

[HighSpeedDreams]

This post is dedicated to anyone who recently attended Larry Vicker's AK Course in South Hill, Virginia and sacrificed sleep for some good conversation about "Castle Doctrine." I thought this was a decent resource.

http://tekel.wordpress.com/2007/10/09/the-castle-doctrine-a-state-by-state-summary/

Be safe

HSD

[dbrowne1]

Looks like a fairly terrible resource to me given that it appears to indicate that Virginia lacks a "Castle Doctrine." Virginia follows that common law rule that you have no duty to retreat anywhere so long as you had no part in causing the altercation. Obviously anywhere includes your home.

Some folks seem to be confused by what the "Castle Doctrine" means. It has nothing to do with civil immunity or other recent creations. It simply means that you do not have to flee your own home before resorting to deadly force. That's it. Nothing more. I'd be pretty surprised if this weren't the law in every state at this point.

[NCPatrolAR]

Duty to retreat (when outside your home) is in place in NC

[dbrowne1]

Duty to retreat (when outside your home) is in place in NC

And that's the rule in the majority of states. That has nothing to do with the Castle Doctrine, which applies only inside the home.

Some states (like Florida) have enacted "Stand Your Ground" laws that eliminate the duty to retreat outside the home if you had no part in causing the altercation. Some states (like Virginia) have always had that rule as part of their case law.

[NCPatrolAR]

And that's the rule in the majority of states. That has nothing to do with the Castle Doctrine, which applies only inside the home.

Some states (like Florida) have enacted "Stand Your Ground" laws that eliminate the duty to retreat outside the home if you had no part in causing the altercation. Some states (like Virginia) have always had that rule as part of their case law.

Ah; I misread your post.

[QuietShootr]

Indiana FTW...we had no duty to retreat 20 years before Texas even got CCW.

[montanadave]

The Montana legislature revised the "castle doctrine" law in this state earlier this year. A person no longer has to retreat either inside or outside the home. Below are the pertinent sections within HB 228.

Section 1. No duty to summon help or flee. Except as provided in 45-3-105, a person who is lawfully in a place or location and who is threatened with bodily injury or loss of life has no duty to retreat from a threat or summon law enforcement assistance prior to using force. The provisions of this section apply to a person offering evidence of justifiable use of force under 45-3-102, 45-3-103, or 45-3-104.

Section 4. Section 45-3-103, MCA, is amended to read:
"45-3-103. Use of force in defense of occupied structure. (1) A person is justified in the use of force or threat to use force against another when and to the extent that the person reasonably believes that the use of force is necessary to prevent or terminate the other's unlawful entry into or attack upon an occupied structure.
(2) A person justified in the use of force pursuant to subsection (1) is justified in the use of force likely to cause death or serious bodily harm only if: the entry is made or attempted and the person reasonably believes that such the force is necessary to prevent an assault upon the person or another in the occupied structure; or the person reasonably believes that the force is necessary to prevent the commission of a forcible felony in the occupied structure."

This bill was signed into law by Governor Schweitzer on April 27 of this year.

[CryingWolf]

RCW 9A.16.050
Homicide — By other person — When justifiable.


Homicide is also justifiable when committed either:

(1) In the lawful defense of the slayer, or his or her husband, wife, parent, child, brother, or sister, or of any other person in his presence or company, when there is reasonable ground to apprehend a design on the part of the person slain to commit a felony or to do some great personal injury to the slayer or to any such person, and there is imminent danger of such design being accomplished; or

(2) In the actual resistance of an attempt to commit a felony upon the slayer, in his presence, or upon or in a dwelling, or other place of abode, in which he is.

[1975 1st ex.s. c 260 § 9A.16.050.]

We have no specific castle law but the State Supreme Court has set a "no duty to retreat" as a precedent in a couple of cases; "there is no duty to retreat when a person is assaulted in a place where he or she has a right to be."