Great example of how the Castle doctrine protects us all:
The Castle doctrine may be on one Amarillo resident’s side after shooting a man who broke into his apartment during a party and assaulted him at the Colonies apartments on Hillside.
Amarillo police say the resident asked the man to leave. He later returned and forced his way back into the apartment. They say they later got into a fight, and the resident shot the man in his abdomen.
The victim was transported to the hospital and is currently being treated for non-life threatening injuries.
There were no arrests , and police say because they don’t exactly know who the victim is in the case.
“Is the owner of the home the victim, or is the intruder that got shot the victim?” Amarillo Police Department Sgt. Brent Barbee said.
Now, some are questioning if this was a reasonable reason for self defense, and according to defense attorneys , it may be a valid reason.
“If you’re in your own home , there’s a presumption that you acted appropriately if you acted with force, or deadly force, as long as it you were under reasonable threat,” Randall County’s District Attorney James Farren.
According to Farren, the Castle doctrine allows a person to act with deadly force if they feel they are under reasonable threat, and do not have to find means to retreat like the self defense law before the Castle doctrine.
If a person feels threatened in their home, they will be presumed to have acted with self defense in a reasonable situation.
Farren does say there are some exceptions.
“The two determining factors are was the perception of threat reasonable, and was the amount of force used appropriate given the perceived threat,” Farren said.
Farren also says an arrest may have not been made because police need to investigate before issuing a warrant if the incident did not happen in police presence.
Police say the resident was released under pending investigation.
They will continue to talk to witnesses and investigate the case.
Source: http://www.connectamarillo.com/news/story.aspx?id=1071169#.U8dXWbFgOqk
