12-23-2014, 02:56 PM
It appears that many of you that have commented on this topic think you are within the law to shoot someone who is entering your house forcefully. Unfortunately, this is not completely true. You are only justified to use deadly force if you truly believe your life is in mortal danger. For example: if you wake up to find an intruder stealing your TV, you can not shoot him. Your life is not being threatened. The law clearly states that you can not defend property or material items with deadly force... only lives that are directly and immediately in danger.
In the case of UsGuys, it sounds as though a psycho with a machete was about to enter his house. If the machete was raised in a threatening fashion, UsGuys would have been justified to shoot if the psycho was coming at him. But, what if the machete was raised and the guy was standing still shouting obscenities? That would not be a justifiable shooting and UsGuys could end up in jail. In either case, UsGuys would probably be involved in an investigation where his belief at the second the gun went off would be in question. Having a legal background, I have personally seen this situation many times. All the focus is on the fraction of a second the bullet left the gun and if the shooter believed deadly force was the ONLY way to save his own life.
I once saw a case where a guy got mugged at gun point, stabbed the mugger in the eye with his car keys, and the victim did jail time. Why? Because the mugging was over. The guy had basically concluded the crime, so it was determined the need for deadly force was not justified.
So, for any of you who think you can shoot anybody who threatens your family, think again. It comes down to that very second, the overt intentions of the suspect, and what was really in your heart when you fired that gun. If it was anger or fear, you might be in trouble. It must be obvious that your life was in mortal danger and you had absolutely NO other choice.
In the case of UsGuys, it sounds as though a psycho with a machete was about to enter his house. If the machete was raised in a threatening fashion, UsGuys would have been justified to shoot if the psycho was coming at him. But, what if the machete was raised and the guy was standing still shouting obscenities? That would not be a justifiable shooting and UsGuys could end up in jail. In either case, UsGuys would probably be involved in an investigation where his belief at the second the gun went off would be in question. Having a legal background, I have personally seen this situation many times. All the focus is on the fraction of a second the bullet left the gun and if the shooter believed deadly force was the ONLY way to save his own life.
I once saw a case where a guy got mugged at gun point, stabbed the mugger in the eye with his car keys, and the victim did jail time. Why? Because the mugging was over. The guy had basically concluded the crime, so it was determined the need for deadly force was not justified.
So, for any of you who think you can shoot anybody who threatens your family, think again. It comes down to that very second, the overt intentions of the suspect, and what was really in your heart when you fired that gun. If it was anger or fear, you might be in trouble. It must be obvious that your life was in mortal danger and you had absolutely NO other choice.