Walk It Through: The Intruder
No duty to retreat, a presumption against a forcible entry, immunity for justified force, and an officer who need not retreat from the arrest.
A parent wakes at night to a stranger forcing open the back door.
Two things a person in this spot might do. Picking one shows what the law says about it.
One night and one break in. The exceptions to the presumption, defense of property, and the full rules for officers' deadly force are not worked through here.
A practice walkthrough, not a prediction of how any real one will go. Legal information, not legal advice.
Words this turns on
Terms with a legal meaning that is narrower than the everyday one. Each links to the definition and the authority behind it.
- Deadly forceFor an officer on duty, force likely to cause death or great bodily harm, including firing a firearm in the direction of the person to be arrested, or at a vehicle the person is riding in.
- Domestic violenceAssault, battery, sexual assault, stalking, kidnapping, false imprisonment, or any crime causing injury or death, by one family or household member against another.
- Immunity for justified forceFreedom from criminal prosecution, including arrest and detention, and from civil action, for force justified under the self defense sections.
- Injunction for protectionThe order against domestic violence. An ex parte temporary injunction lasts no more than 15 days, until the full hearing, and the protective terms of a final one remain until modified or dissolved.
- Stand your groundThe right of a person not engaged in criminal activity, in a place they have a right to be, to use or threaten force the law justifies without first retreating.