By: Brittany L. LaBerry, Esq. and Emma K. Wittmann, Esq.
It is late at night, and you are startled awake by a crashing sound in your home. You quickly unlock your safe and grab your firearm. You are about to exit your bedroom to face the threat, and your mind is racing thinking “how am I going to respond if there is someone in my home?”
When you do act on a break-in, your immediate afterthought could be “was I legally allowed to do what I did?” In this article, we are going to break down self-defense principles and the Castle Doctrine to give you the legal tools you need to act lawfully to defend your loved ones inside your home. Please remember that every state has different laws and requirements for protecting your home, so please do your homework and check your state’s specific laws.
What is Castle Doctrine?
Castle Doctrine is one concept that all fifty states agree on – to an extent. Castle Doctrine laws have their origins in medieval English common law. The old saying is “a man’s (or woman’s) home is his castle.” Even back in medieval English law, there was a strong notion that you should be free from all threats in your home, your castle.
Today, depending on the state you reside in, you may have the right to protect yourself, others, and your property by force. In some instances, deadly physical force may be used against intruders without retreating.
Castle Doctrine laws state that individuals have the right to use reasonable force, including deadly physical force, to protect themselves or third parties against an intruder in their home, and does not require the person to retreat before meeting force with force.
Castle Doctrine requires the individual using self-defense to reasonably believe that the deadly physical force was necessary to prevent imminent harm or death to themselves or another person. The keywords are: reasonable, harm to oneself or another, and imminent. Imminent means that the threat is immediate and about to happen, not something that may occur in the future. The force used must be proportional to the threat and a reasonable person must have thought that force was immediately necessary. Meaning, that if the threat inside your residence did not pose an imminent harm or risk of death to you or someone else, you cannot use deadly physical force.
All fifty states have some variation of Castle Doctrine. While most states have a statute, there are four states – Oregon, Maryland, New Mexico, and Vermont – that primarily follow common law principles for Castle Doctrine. Even amongst the 50 states, there are important variations, some of which we will break down for you in the sections below.
What does Castle Doctrine NOT cover?
Castle Doctrine does not protect physical property, it protects people. As a rule, individuals are not allowed to use deadly physical force to protect just personal property. Let us tell a story to visualize this. One night, you fall asleep on the couch. Suddenly, you wake up to a weird noise in your house that does not sound familiar. You sit up from the couch when suddenly you see a dark figure by your front door. There is an intruder in your house! He is carrying out your brand-new TV that you just put in the movie room. The intruder opens the front door. He is not aware that you woke up. The intruder is making his way out of the front door with your TV. Can you use deadly force at that point? With the current facts, the answer is NO. The intruder is leaving your residence. At that point, the intruder is not posing an imminent threat to you.
Crime Prevention Statutes
Some states have crime prevention statutes that say a person is justified in threatening or using physical or deadly physical force against another if they reasonably believe it is immediately necessary to prevent another from committing a specific criminal offense. This may include preventing arson of an occupied structure or burglary. Burglary is when someone enters a property or residential structure unlawfully with the intent to commit any theft or felony therein.
If you are in a state that has a crime prevention statute, then you can use physical force to prevent the commission of a burglary of your home.
What are Some Important Differences in Castle Doctrine?
It is especially important to be up to date on your state’s laws because there are subtle differences in Castle Doctrine throughout the United States, which can dramatically affect whether you are charged with a crime. This will equip you with the knowledge and power you will need to adequately and lawfully protect yourself, your loved ones, and your castle.
What are some of these differences? Some states have a Castle Doctrine that only covers your home. Other states’ Castle Doctrine provides protection in additional places, like vehicles and workplaces.
There are also differences in when the individual can initiate deadly physical force. Some states require the intruder to be inside your home before the use of force is considered justified under the Castle Doctrine. Colorado’s “Make My Day” law is an example of this. In Colorado, the intruder cannot be on a front porch, back porch, or outside the front door. The intruder must be inside your home to argue your use of force was protected under the Castle Doctrine.
In other states, individuals do not need to wait until the intruder is inside the home to employ deadly physical force. In some states, the attempted intrusion into the house is enough. Arizona and Missouri are examples of this type of Castle Doctrine.
Although this sounds like a small difference in the law, it can completely change the outcome of a criminal investigation or prosecution. Let us dive into a hypothetical to illustrate the differences. You are a homeowner in the state of Arizona. You find yourself home alone. You go to bed as you normally do, and you are woken up by your dog barking. You go out to your living room, and you see a man attempting to break in. You threaten deadly physical force against him, and he continues attempting to break in. You feel that you are in imminent danger of grave physical injury or death. You make the decision to deploy your firearm, and it strikes the attempting intruder.
Now, let us change one fact: you are a homeowner in Colorado, and not in Arizona. The analysis of when you can use deadly physical force against the intruder changes completely. You are much more likely to be successful in a claim that your conduct falls under the Castle Doctrine in Arizona than in Colorado. The key difference is that in Arizona, it covers an attempted intrusion. In Colorado, the intruder cannot be on your back porch under the current “Make My Day” laws.
This is the reason why understanding your state’s Castle Doctrine is necessary!
Reminders!
Castle Doctrine DOES NOT provide a blanket authorization for using deadly physical force in every scenario involving a perceived risk.
Castle Doctrine is a defense and not a preclusion of prosecution. Any time you use a firearm in self-defense in this type of scenario, you should expect to be the subject of an investigation. The result of the investigation hinges on your set of facts, any statements you choose to make to the police, and your state’s laws. You have protected yourself and your family by taking the steps in becoming a responsible gun owner.
We would like to encourage you to protect yourself and your family one step further. Look into the Castle Doctrine laws in your state to better understand what places and what conduct is legal. That way, if you ever find yourself in a position where you reasonably believe you must use physical force to defend yourself or your loved ones in your home, you are equipped with the knowledge of how to act.
Additionally, if you are interested in learning more about The Attorneys For Freedom Law Firm and our national membership, The Attorneys On Retainer Program, you can visit us at AttorneysForFreedom.com or AttorneysOnRetainer.us.
Until next time,
Brittany L. LaBerry, Esq.
Emma K. Wittmann, Esq.
