ÕÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ͸ ³ Filename: LTHLFRCE.TXT³ ÆÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ͵ ³ Title: Lethal Force Law³ ÆÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ͵ ³ By: Captain Hack ³ ÆÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ͵ ³ Released: 09/17/95 ³ ÆÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ͵ ³ Danger: °°°°°°°°°° ³ ÔÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ; All info about laws in this file taken without permission from a November 1994 issue of _Guns & Ammo_. Go ahead. Sue me. The following cases justifying lethal force in PA, NJ, and DE are only generalizations. Each law is riddled with qualifying language, and it is too long and complex to explain in this text file. These are basic rules, but you can always check into specifics for your state. I'm only listing PA, NJ, and DE, because this is my tri-state area, and I'd be amazed if any of these text files ever got outside that area. First, I'll take a moment to define the basic characteristics of ANY justifiable homicide. They are: 1) Death or serious bodily injury is threatened, or the defender reasonably believes it is. 2) The threat is imminent, here and now. The threat or fear of some future deadly intent alone will not justify deadly force 3) The threat is UNLAWFUL 4) Deadly force is reasonably believed to be required to end the threat Now note the abundant use of the word "reasonably". That does not mean just reasonable to YOU, but it essentially means "Can you make the jury think that your use of deadly force was REASONABLE". Deadly force is justified... PA NJ DE o in defense of self X X X o in defense of ANY other person X X X Deadly force is justified to prevent... o robbery, rape or kidnapping X X X o a forceable felony X A defender can stand his ground... o to prevent arson of habitation X X X o to prevent property theft X o to prevent felony prop. theft X -------------------------------------------------------------- Note that in most states, you are required to retreat from a lethal situation if that is a safe alternative to using deadly force. The one "exception" to this is in the case of invasion of the home: Lethal force is justified when any unlawful intruder into your home poses a believable threat. This is to say that for the most part, any burgler, who displays ANY form of "weapon", down to things like the crow bar he jimmied your door with, can be shot. Also note that in most situations, non-lethal force is much easier to beat the rap on than deadly force. Example: A junkie punk breaks into your house. While you have legal justification to kill him, if you just shoot him in the knees, so he can never walk again without a cain, you've still put him in extreme pain for the rest of his life, and you're much more likly to beat the rap. BEWARE: If you utilize lethal force on ANYONE, you will most likly be charged with murder in the second degree, and you will have to plead "Not guilty by reason of..." and whatever justification you intend to use. Thus, if you cannot justify to a jury that your lethal force was warrented and required, you could be convicted of MURDER 2. --hack