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Originally Posted by Conn. Trooper
Not every "intruder" is who you think they are. How would you like to shoot your daughter sneaking in from a late night out? Or a drunk that entered a wrong house and no criminal intentions? Both have happened.
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Criminal intentions have nothing to do with the legality of shooting an intruder in your house. Here's what
your state's law says about murder:
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Sec. 53a-54a. Murder. (a) A person is guilty of murder when, with intent to cause the death of another person, he causes the death of such person or of a third person or causes a suicide by force, duress or deception; except that in any prosecution under this subsection, it shall be an affirmative defense that the defendant committed the proscribed act or acts under the influence of extreme emotional disturbance for which there was a reasonable explanation or excuse, the reasonableness of which is to be determined from the viewpoint of a person in the defendant's situation under the circumstances as the defendant believed them to be, provided nothing contained in this subsection shall constitute a defense to a prosecution for, or preclude a conviction of, manslaughter in the first degree or any other crime.
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I added the emphasis in the body of the citation. Note what it says: it is an affirmative defense if the person acted under extreme emotional disturbance for which there was a reasonable explanation. And then it further clarifies that the determination of "reasonable"
is to be determined from the viewpoint of a person in the defendant's situation under the circumstances "as the defendant believed them to be."
In short -- the "reasonable man" theory. The shootee's intentions or reasons for being in my (locked, darkened) house at 03:45 a.m. DO NOT MATTER. What matters is that I know there should not be a strange man in my (locked, darkened) house at 03:45 a.m. and therefore when I saw him standing at the foot of my bed I was afraid. So I shot him. I had just been reading the reports of how Dr. Petit was asleep on the sofa in his sun room when he awakened to find two men standing there ... two men who proceeded to beat him so severely that his neighbor didn't recognize him. I think any reasonable person would (and
should) be afraid, and based on YOUR state's law, that's all that is required.
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Originally Posted by Conn. Trooper
You shouldn't be shooting at what you can't identify. If you see a person thats a threat, by all means defend yourself. If you see a person, and you can't determine who they are or even if they are a threat to you, good luck to you when you shoot them. "He was in my house, so he is automatically a threat" will probably serve you well all the way to prison.
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Actually, based on your state's law, it would probably serve very well to not put me in prison.
Bottom line: People who don't want to get shot should not break into other people's houses.
Serious question: How long have you been a State Trooper? They didn't explain any of this to you at your academy? Did they teach you that anybody who shoots anybody for any reason MUST be arrested for murder?
I met a couple of young officers from New Haven, Connecticut, awhile ago. I asked them about the legality of open carry in Connecticut. It was a sneaky, underhanded question, because I already knew the answer. The scary thing is ... they didn't. They said open carry is not legal in Connecticut (it is, if you have a permit), and they said that's what they were taught at the academy.
What the heck are they teaching at police academy in Connecticut?