Monday, April 2, 2012
A Day Late
"Since the deceased was wearing a red hoodie, considered to possibly be gang colors, and carrying a suspicious basket that could have concealed a knife or a gun, Mr. Wolf was afraid for his own safety and was completely justified in killing and eating the deceased when she fought back after being stalked and accosted," a police spokesman stated. Tennessee's Stand Your Ground Law, identical to Florida's, was cited as the reason there was no arrest in the Red Riding Hood murder. No word yet on the whereabouts of Grandma.
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Cute … but ineffective since you are obviously ignorant about the dissimilarities of the Tennessee and Florida laws. The Florida law applies in all locations but the Tennessee law does not. Your example would only apply if the wolf ate Red Riding Hood in granny’s house and he had been legally admitted there by Granny.
ReplyDeleteTennessee Code Annotated, Title 39, Chapter 11, Part 6
(c) Any person using force intended or likely to cause death or serious bodily injury within a residence, dwelling or vehicle is presumed to have held a reasonable belief of imminent death or serious bodily injury to self, family, a member of the household or a person visiting as an invited guest when that force is used against another person, who unlawfully and forcibly enters or has unlawfully and forcibly entered the residence, dwelling or vehicle, and the person using defensive force knew or had reason to believe that an unlawful and forcible entry occurred.
Thanks for the information. I'll check the rest of the code when I get time.
ReplyDeleteAnd I'm calling bull bleep on your post, Anonymous...
ReplyDelete(b) (1) Notwithstanding § 39-17-1322, a person who is not engaged in unlawful activity and is in a place where the person has a right to be has no duty to retreat before threatening or using force against another person when and to the degree the person reasonably believes the force is immediately necessary to protect against the other's use or attempted use of unlawful force.
(2) Notwithstanding § 39-17-1322, a person who is not engaged in unlawful activity and is in a place where the person has a right to be has no duty to retreat before threatening or using force intended or likely to cause death or serious bodily injury, if:
(A) The person has a reasonable belief that there is an imminent danger of death or serious bodily injury;
Rather than selectively quote the TN code, I suggest folks go and read it for themselves.
ReplyDeletehttp://law.justia.com/codes/tennessee/2010/title-39/chapter-11/part-6/39-11-611/
Well let’s see if we can make it even more complicated but yet you may be able to grasp it. The three sections of the TN code, that you posted, predate the 2007 “Stand Your Ground” law and essentially established the existing at that time “Self Defense” standard. So the Stand Your Ground law did not bring these into being.
ReplyDeleteUnder the old law “a person is justified in threatening or using force against another individual when and to the degree the person reasonably believes the force is immediately necessary for self-defense. The person must have a reasonable belief that there is an imminent danger of death or serious bodily injury. The danger creating the belief of imminent death or serious bodily injury must be real, or honestly believed to be real at the time, and must be founded upon reasonable grounds.” You were also not required to retreat in the face of a threat. This applied to any place outside you home or dwelling.
Inside or immediate to your home or dwelling you had the automatic presumption that you were allowed to use force “where the individual against whom the defensive force was used was in the process of unlawfully and forcibly entering, or had already so entered”. The new law essentially expanded this to include “a dwelling, residence, or occupied vehicle” and what I posted above essentially encapsulates Tennessee’s so called Stand Your Ground law passed in 2007. It does not establish new standards for self defense outside the enclosures or areas identified above.
So to sum up. If the wolf had used force on Red Riding Hood outside of Granny’s house and yard then he would not be allowed to claim the Stand Your Ground defense in that he initiated the attack. “The threat or use of force against another is not justified If the person using force provoked the other individual's use or attempted use of unlawful force, unless: The person using force abandons the encounter or clearly communicates to the other the intent to do so; and The other person nevertheless continues or attempts to use unlawful force against the person.”
Inside Granny’s house or her yard he would have had the automatic presumption of being allowed to use force if Granny had permitted his entry and he could show that he reasonably thought Red Riding Hood had unlawfully and forcibly entered the residence or dwelling.
And no the Tennessee and Florida Laws are not identical.