Monday, November 16, 2009

I need to know the laws regarding self defense. If an attacker is trying to steal your purse, and you don't

know what he is doing you think he is going to kill you, and you shot him in the back, front wherever. Is that considered self defense? Keep in mind you have your concealed weapons license.|||If this person just takes your property without saying I am going to kill you. And doesn%26#039;t have a weapon then you can%26#039;t shoot and kill them. You can protect your life not your property.|||Self defense laws normally require that a bonifide threat of serious bodily injury or death is imminent.





A legal argument against you would be if you shot the perpetrator in the back. With the perpetrators back to you....they can%26#039;t pose an imminent threat.





Likewise, if the perpetrator is using enough force against you when stealing your purse that is likely to cause serious bodily injury or death....THEN deadly force may be allowed by your state laws.





You may be able to learn more by researching the %26quot;Deadly Use of Force%26quot; laws of your state on the internet.|||You can not use deadly force (shooting someone) in defense of property. An exception in some states is if someone breaks into your home.





If you think someone is trying to kill you, then you have the right to use deadly force. But you have to be able articulate why you thought they were a threat and be able to convince or prosecutor or jury of that. Someone simply taking your purse won%26#039;t cut it.|||If someone is simply trying to pull your purse from you and is not armed and hasn%26#039;t said anything to you, it would be difficult to justify shooting someone (at least here in Canada).





You%26#039;d have to reasonably fear for your life, it would be up to the courts to decide if your fear was reasonable.





It would all be in the articulation after the event.|||Well, shooting someone in the back is always hard (but not impossible) to defend.





Here are some things to know:





1. Laws vary by state. Please add what state you live in if you want specific information.





2. Stealing a purse tends to be a threat to property, not life. In most states, killing someone to protect your property, is ILLEGAL.





That said, if circumstances occur that make you fear for your life, (i.e. he has a knife, baseball bat, gun, etc., or he is actively attacking you), then this is no normal purse snatching, and you may be more justified in using lethal force. To be cleared criminally on the spot, I would think that they would have to have a gun or knife.





Ultimately, your fate may be up to a jury. Even if you avoid a criminal trial, you may face a civil lawsuit filed by the family of the deceased.|||No, you cannot shoot someone in defense of property, only in defense of life or limb. I don%26#039;t know what you mean by %26quot;you don%26#039;t know what he is doing you think he is going to kill you%26quot;. If you can convince the jury that you had good reason to believe he was going to kill you (for example, if he pointed a gun at you) then you%26#039;re fine.|||Using Deadly Force has to justified in 3 different senses





1. Ability: Does the subject have the ability to harm you or others?


Meaning that the subject obviously overpowers you physically due to size; the subject has a weapon; the subject has the capability (for example: a quadriplegic person in a wheelchair is no danger)





2. Opportunity: Does the subject have the opportunity to harm you or others?


Meaning the subject has an %26quot;opening%26quot; to harm you or others (for example: a person trying to rob a store with a shotgun, but the clerk is behind a bulletproof glass on the phone with the cops and the doors locked with no bystanders in the store does not have an opportunity to hurt anyone. EXCEPT if the glass gets shot out. THEN the clerk can shoot him.)





3. Motivation: Does the subject have the motivation to ham you or others?


Meaning the subject is yelling, %26quot;I%26#039;m going to kill you and everyone else here if I don%26#039;t get your money!!%26quot;





ALL of these factors have to be present for Deadly Force to be reasonable. If one is not then it is not reasonable.





Here is an example to clear the haze:


You are walking down the street and a man WITH a gun is yelling %26quot;I%26#039;M GONNA KILL EVERYONE!!!%26quot; as he runs around in the middle of the CROWDED street.


It seems shady, but you COULD reach into your purse and pop one off into his chest. BUT, make sure you call the police and an ambulance to take care of the man.





OR





You are walking down the street and a HUGE barrel-chested giant of a man walks up to you and demands your purse and says he will kill you if you don%26#039;t give it to him.


At this point you could sling a brick upside his head to get away from him. IF it kills him you would be covered by this rule.





When all is said and done remember this saying....


%26quot;It is better to be tried by 12 than to be carried by 6.%26quot;|||If you are in fear for your life, if you are protecting someone else%26#039;s life, or in some States, if you are protecting your property, you can use lethal force.


BUT be prepared to defend yourself in court. If it can be shown that you baited the purse thief just so you could shoot him, or that you didn%26#039;t need to shoot him because he was running away from you and no longer posed a threat to you (i.e. shooting him in the back), you will be charged with murder.


In addition, if you have never killed a human being before, you don%26#039;t know how you will react after the fact. Realizing what you have done could ruin your life.


Just because you have a CCW doesn%26#039;t mean you should carry a weapon.|||You can shoot him, however if you shot him in the back that would look suspicious.|||If you are in fear for your life or serious bodily harm, then you can use deadly force. You cannot use deadly force to protect property. You cannot shoot someone that has stolen your purse when they are fleeing. You could never make your case that you were in fear for your life after they are running away.|||That is considered self-defense because he might really hurt u if there%26#039;s a struggle 4 the purse, the jury would probably take ur side.

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