PA Bill Number: HB335
Title: In inchoate crimes, further providing for prohibited offensive weapons.
Description: In inchoate crimes, further providing for prohibited offensive weapons. ...
Last Action: Removed from table
Last Action Date: May 1, 2024
Standing your ground requires making a case :: 03/08/2015
The right to defend oneself is etched in dozens of state laws but, as a number of high-profile cases across the country recently showcased, that right often will have to be defended in court.
Louisiana is one of 21 states with a “stand your ground” law offering citizens latitude to use deadly force over fleeing during an altercation.
Stand your ground laws gained national attention during the trial of George Zimmerman, who was acquitted of unlawfully shooting 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in Florida. Zimmerman claimed self-defense.
Louisiana enacted its stand your ground law in 2006, adding to the existing castle laws, which give people the right to protect themselves or their property, even by deadly force.
Monroe attorney Bob Noel said in Louisiana people can use deadly force if they have reason to believe their life is in danger — people do not have to flee if they have a legal right to be there. However, a jury would have to to decide whether that person had legal grounds to use force.
In 2006, Rep. Eric LaFleur added into stand your ground provisions language stating “any person who is in a place where he or she has a right does not have an obligation to retreat if faced with a real or perceived threat and may stand his or her ground and meet force with force.”
The court cannot consider the possibility of retreat as a factor in determining if someone lawfully used force in self-defense.
“But there is no ironclad rule when you shoot someone. A jury must make that decision,” Noel said.
A person who is an aggressor in an altercation cannot claim self-defense. If someone attacks another person, the claim of self-defense can only be used if they prove they attempted to withdraw from the fight.
A recent case of a claim of self-defense involved a shooting in Monroe last month.
On Feb. 2 Monroe police responded to 4307 Harrison St. to investigate reports of a shooting. Upon arrival officers found Darrien Johnson with three gunshot wounds to the upper torso.
The investigation determined Johnson and Jay Dee Williams were involved in an argument in the front yard over a woman. A shootout sent Johnson to a local hospital, where he later died.
Williams was charged with obstruction of justice, unlawful carrying of a weapon and possession of a firearm. A charge of homicide has been sent to the district attorney for a grand jury to review. Williams reportedly said he shot Johnson in self-defense.
“One guy produced a handgun and the other guy pulled his, and it may be self-defense. We don’t make an arrest because it may be. We collect evidence to the best of our ability and we refer those particular cases that may be self-dense to the District Attorney’s Office,” Monroe detective Reggie Brown said.
He said every citizen is afforded the right to protect self, property or another individual from another person when they fear bodily harm or loss of life is imminent. This means that whatever force is reasonably necessary to protect oneself from bodily harm or loss of life is permitted by law.
“For example, if someone attempts to kick the door in on an elderly person who physically cannot defend his or herself, and if they fear imminent bodily harm or loss of life, they would not have to wait until the suspect makes entry into the residence to arm themselves and use force. This would be considered reasonable force to protect the elderly citizen’s life,” Brown said.
Noel said when arguing these cases, it’s all in the eyes and hands of the jury.
“It’s a matter of how it’s presented and what’s going through the mind of the jurors, especially when someone is dead,” Noel said.
Ouachita Parish Sheriff Jay Russell said while every situation is different, people have the right to protect themselves and those around them but when using deadly force they better be ready to come before a jury and explain themselves.
“If a guy is breaking into your home and runs away, how is that a threat on your life? You’ll never convince a jury you shot a man in self-defense as he was running away down your driveway,” Russell said. “I’ve seen a lot of it (deadly force) over my 30 years, and they were in fear of their lives. If you use deadly force you better be prepared to go before a jury and make them understand what was going through your mind at the time you used deadly force.”
While people have the right to protect themselves, loved ones and property, a victim must be in fear of their life or loss of limb to justify deadly force, Russell said.
