14 Jun 2012
Phrases such as “stand your ground”, “castle doctrine” and “shoot first” have been in the forefront of the news lately. This is due in large part to an incident in Florida in which George Zimmerman shot and killed Trayvon Martin. Zimmerman claims that Martin attacked him on the street, banged his head against the sidewalk and broke his nose, whereupon Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch volunteer, pulled out his gun and shot Martin. Almost seven weeks went by without any charges being filed, but after a public outcry, Zimmerman was charged with murder. Zimmerman claims self-defense. He relies on Florida’s “stand your ground” law, which provides, in essence, that if you reasonably believe your life is being threatened by another person, and you haven’t provoked the attack, you may use deadly force to protect yourself, and (this is the controversial part of the law) you have no duty to retreat before using deadly force.
More than half the states in the country have some version of a stand your ground law on their books. Many, however, limit the defense to attacks in one’s home. That’s how it became known as the “castle doctrine.” Sixteen states, however, including Texas and Florida, have extended the law to include threats outside the home, including those occurring in your car, at work, or even in the street.
The version of the law in Texas provides, in section 9.32 of the Penal Code, that you have no duty to retreat in such a situation, provided that you have the right to be present at the location where deadly force is used, you are not engaged in criminal activity at the time, and you reasonably believe deadly force is necessary to protect your life (and, in some circumstances, the life of another). Indeed, the law goes on to state that if those elements are present, the finder of fact (that’s the jury) may not even consider that you had available a safe exit from the scene. And since, in Texas, this is a defense in a criminal case, the prosecutor has the burden of showing beyond a reasonable doubt that your conduct was not justified.
The reason we bring this subject up now is because a Texas A&M study, released about two weeks ago, concludes that these stand your ground laws actually result in an increase in homicides. Now it’s not altogether clear whether the deaths referred to are those of the aggressors or of the victims of deadly attacks. It is also not clear that the only issue behind these laws is to prevent homicide – there is another factor at work here, and that is the sanctity of one’s home, car, and even personal space. However, we’re neither statisticians nor lawmakers. What we can tell our readers is that the trend in the country, up until the Zimmerman case, has been to expand the castle doctrine along the lines of the statute in Texas. We do expect to hear calls for narrowing or abandoning the doctrine as the Zimmerman case moves through the Florida courts.
Law Office of David D. White, PLLC
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Austin, TX 78701
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