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Old October 29, 2008, 01:33 PM   #17
Frank Ettin
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Join Date: November 23, 2005
Location: California - San Francisco
Posts: 9,471
The difficulty with these "what if" deals is that there are so many variables. What is the layout of the premises? Could there be accomplices? What is the demeanor of the assailant and exactly what is he doing? Where are you? Where are there other people? The range of appropriate responses will depend on exactly what the situation is and how it's unfolding.

We all should pretty much know the standards for the justified use of lethal force. The question then becomes, if you use lethal force, can you articulate, based on the totality of the circumstances, why a reasonable and prudent person in like circumstances and knowing what you know would have concluded that lethal force was necessary to prevent immediate and otherwise unavoidable death or grave bodily injury to the innocent?

So you must observe and be prepared to exercise your best judgment. But absent one or more specific factors that you can identify as indicating that the assailant was manifesting an intent to escalate the level of violence, I think you'd have a very hard time justifying the use of lethal force.
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