Do you know what your rights are, and/or if you have any?

applecruncher said:
If an intruder has a gun to a person's head and makes threats, it's highly unlikely the victim will be able to get a carving knife and stab the intruder in a vital organ or anyplace else, no matter how much adrenaline/super-human strength is flowing.
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Yes, applecruncher, you're pretty much under their control at that point. However, in a situation like that I'll venture to guess probably 50% of us would take the first realistic opportunity to turn things around...or at least look for an opportunity. Sometimes intruders are scared, too.
 

I agree that I am probably kidding myself but I have seen videos of seniors driving off would be armed robbers in their small businesses. I wouldn't bother putting up any resistance to avoid being robbed but to save my grandchildren or my husband, I might just find the necessary courage.

Luckily, in spite of living in a house that is frequently unlocked, I have never been put to the test.
 
Did anyone look at the link I posted about the firefighter responding to a 911 call, who was shot by some guy who thought he was an intruder? The shooter was sentenced to four years, and was apparently devastated by his own guilt.
 

Sunny said:
Did anyone look at the link I posted about the firefighter responding to a 911 call, who was shot by some guy who thought he was an intruder? The shooter was sentenced to four years, and was apparently devastated by his own guilt.
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I believe I did...it was yours, or another. And the the old man passed away himself soon after his release...was that yours? Tragic for all.
 
Warrigal said:
I agree that I am probably kidding myself but I have seen videos of seniors driving off would be armed robbers in their small businesses. I wouldn't bother putting up any resistance to avoid being robbed but to save my grandchildren or my husband, I might just find the necessary courage.

Luckily, in spite of living in a house that is frequently unlocked, I have never been put to the test.
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I hear ya, Warri. :)
 
Sunny said:
Did anyone look at the link I posted about the firefighter responding to a 911 call, who was shot by some guy who thought he was an intruder? The shooter was sentenced to four years, and was apparently devastated by his own guilt.
Around here, if firefighters or police have to enter your home unbeknownst to you (like a welfare check), they holler out who they are and why they are there and make all kinds of racket on purpose to let, say, a sleeping occupant know who and why they are there. Not to do so would be almost suicidal, based on the high percentage of homeowners here who are legally armed.

My response above of shooting an intruder is based on a scenario of someone creeping quietly down my back hall headed to my bedroom in the middle of the night or something like that, or just crashing in not identifying themselves. Here, our castle doctrine/stand your ground provisions would protect the homeowner in a situation like I describe herein.

I note the guy is Maryland was not charged with murder/manslaughter, etc., probably because of similar stand your ground laws,
but with illegal possession of a weapon because of an earlier offense.

I wouldn't want to be one of those guys who have to enter a home on a "welfare check." Pretty dangerous thing.
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Warrigal said:
I agree that I am probably kidding myself but I have seen videos of seniors driving off would be armed robbers in their small businesses. I wouldn't bother putting up any resistance to avoid being robbed but to save my grandchildren or my husband, I might just find the necessary courage.

Luckily, in spite of living in a house that is frequently unlocked, I have never been put to the test.
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Around here, it's not a good idea to leave a house unlocked. Mine is locked all the time, even when I am in here. Pretty much everyone here does the same thing. My sister, who lives a few blocks from me, used to leave a window in her kitchen (facing the street) open so her cat could come and go, awoke one morning to find a strange man rummaging around in her refrigerator. Fortunately, he dove back out the window when he saw her, but this could have had a much more grim ending. Now she doesn't leave that window open anymore.
 
Thank you all for the replies, I really appreciate it.

I'm not very good with search engines, but with only one exception everything I've found is about weapons/deadly force. The exception was a law firm (same state, different city) that said on their site in some cases self-defense can be a defense to an assault charge. Sounds to me it means you risk getting charged with assault- which is what locals have been saying. And while the now-former governor passed the Stand Your Ground law a few months ago, this is the way it's worded: https://www.legiscan.com/IA/text/HF517/2017

In contrast, though, my (and other people's) concern is defending oneself without a weapon, without the intent of deadly force. What the individual from the state dept. of human rights said when I presented the situations I mentioned in the first post and details: Each case has a different set of facts and are treated according to the circumstances, the parties involved, and how the laws are applied.
She would not give me a clear-cut answer, even though I very clearly described the situations. I'd take that to mean if you do anything to defend yourself, you take your chances as to what an officer coming on the scene will do.

So, in the situation where I was jumped in a public place, I did not act at all- not afraid of being injured if I did, but not willing to risk getting arrested for it.
In the home intrusion situation, I was able to get in front of the guy and managed to shove him out the door and locked the door. Considering I'm a small-sized senior-aged female, I probably wouldn't have been able to do that if he hadn't been seriously intoxicated on heaven-knows-what. I should have been relieved that I got him out, but my concern was that he'd run to the police and go 'Oh that person pushed me!'
And like I said, it's a widespread belief- that you cannot put your hands on another person to protect or defend yourself, and it doesn't seem the Stand Your Ground law addresses that particular issue.
 
JaniceM said:
Thank you all for the replies, I really appreciate it.

I'm not very good with search engines, but with only one exception everything I've found is about weapons/deadly force. The exception was a law firm (same state, different city) that said on their site in some cases self-defense can be a defense to an assault charge. Sounds to me it means you risk getting charged with assault- which is what locals have been saying. And while the now-former governor passed the Stand Your Ground law a few months ago, this is the way it's worded: https://www.legiscan.com/IA/text/HF517/2017

In contrast, though, my (and other people's) concern is defending oneself without a weapon, without the intent of deadly force. What the individual from the state dept. of human rights said when I presented the situations I mentioned in the first post and details: Each case has a different set of facts and are treated according to the circumstances, the parties involved, and how the laws are applied.
She would not give me a clear-cut answer, even though I very clearly described the situations. I'd take that to mean if you do anything to defend yourself, you take your chances as to what an officer coming on the scene will do.

So, in the situation where I was jumped in a public place, I did not act at all- not afraid of being injured if I did, but not willing to risk getting arrested for it.
In the home intrusion situation, I was able to get in front of the guy and managed to shove him out the door and locked the door. Considering I'm a small-sized senior-aged female, I probably wouldn't have been able to do that if he hadn't been seriously intoxicated on heaven-knows-what. I should have been relieved that I got him out, but my concern was that he'd run to the police and go 'Oh that person pushed me!'
And like I said, it's a widespread belief- that you cannot put your hands on another person to protect or defend yourself, and it doesn't seem the Stand Your Ground law addresses that particular issue.
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P.s. I forgot to add this: the person who couldn't or wouldn't give me a straight answer included a list of 'resources' with her reply, all entirely unrelated to the subject- 'there are various resources in the community that you might want to look into': "family/domestic violence centers," alcohol/addiction services, health clinics, Goodwill, etc. etc.
Is anyone other than me thinking 'what the h*ll?'?

All I've been able to figure is maybe I could get a straight accurate answer from whomever is the highest up in law enforcement around here, but I don't know who that would be.
 
JaniceM said:
P.s. I forgot to add this: the person who couldn't or wouldn't give me a straight answer included a list of 'resources' with her reply, all entirely unrelated to the subject- 'there are various resources in the community that you might want to look into': "family/domestic violence centers," alcohol/addiction services, health clinics, Goodwill, etc. etc.
Is anyone other than me thinking 'what the h*ll?'?

All I've been able to figure is maybe I could get a straight accurate answer from whomever is the highest up in law enforcement around here, but I don't know who that would be.
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You're not getting "a straight accurate answer" because self-defense cases must be judged by their particular set of circumstances, and because you weren't talking to an attorney/legal advisor. You can find reference books in the library. There you would see for yourself exactly how the applicable laws are worded. There are laws that protect both you and your assailant. In a courtroom, attorneys on both sides argue circumstances that have a bearing on the case. This is why you're not getting a cut-and-dried answer.
 
Janice, from the case you cited in one of your posts, I infer that you are in Iowa? If so, the section of your state law referring to use of force and self-defense is Section 704. Google Iowa state law Section 704 and that should bring it up. I also found that something called HF 517 took effect on July 1, 2017, and that removes the duty to retreat.

It's hard to get answers to what a law actually means to you. Most of those services suggested to you either cannot or will not answer your question. The meaning of the law is pretty much the exclusive purview of lawyers, courts, district attorneys, etc., and interpreting law with out a law license can get a person into deep doodoo for "practicing law without a license." I would suggest that you see if there is a senior citizens law office or some such in your area and consult them. Most of them offer many free services to senior citizens and are very good at answering general legal questions.
 
I think that much of the answer depends on how you handle yourself when you make your statement of what actually took place to the police.

If I was jumped from behind by a young assailant and my car key accidentally poked his eye out or my pen accidentally slipped into his ear I do not think I would be convicted of a crime. The simple fact is that if he had not attacked me we would not have scuffled and he would not have been injured in the scuffle.

On the other hand if I puffed out my chest and acted like a neighborhood vigilante spouting my rights to defend myself I might be opening myself up to closer scrutiny of the incident by the responding police officer.

I would review the law for my state and if I had a problem I would do what I needed to do to defend myself, then I would keep my comments very basic and brief in any statement to the police following the incident.

Good luck!
 

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