Really.
Is the "Stand Your Ground" in the castle doctrine law?
It is so strange law in Connecticut that it is an illegal for a house owner to shoot a robber in the house.
Many people bought the handguns at Cabela's on a holiday sale day. This made me think that they ignored the law. I respect their wish to protect themselves and their home. The problem is that it is a conflict issue between the bad law and a home protection. BTW, I am not residence of CT, but my mother lives there.
I copied this from attorney Ralph D. Sherman,130 West Main Street • New Britain, Connecticut 06052, (860) 229-0213 • fax (860) 229-0235 • e-mail
atty@ralphdsherman.com
"So the question really is, when would your action be considered self defense?
In Connecticut, you are justified in using "reasonable physical force" on another person when you reasonably believe that "reasonable physical force" is necessary to protect yourself or another person from the use or imminent use of physical force. If you use deadly force, you must reasonable believe that you or another innocent person are in imminent danger of "grave bodily harm." This is quite a mass of verbiage, so let's look at some of its components.
The first issue is "reasonable physical force." Whether you use deadly force or non-deadly force against an attacker, the force must be reasonable under the circumstances. If someone hits you with a snowball, it probably would not be reasonable to respond with a firearm. But you could be justified using a firearm if, for example, an attacker showed a gun or a knife; if an attacker, armed with a piece of rope, announced that he was about to strangle you; or even if a bare-handed attacker were relatively close and showed the ability and intent to break an arm, a leg, or maybe a finger. In these three situations-but not the one with the snowball-a jury could conclude that your attacker is threatening "grave bodily harm."
"Imminent" means that the harm from the attacker is just about to happen. If someone calls you on the telephone from another state and says, "I'm going to kill you someday," you are not justified in driving to other state and shooting him. The threatened harm simply is not imminent. This factor is important because, in essence, you are legally justified in using deadly force only if you have no other option by which you could stop the bad guy at the very moment that he is attacking or about to attack you. Clearly if someone threatens you by telephone, you have many options other than deadly force.
Speaking of options, you also to consider whether you could save yourself from your attacker by simply escaping. This aspect of the law varies widely from one state to another. In Connecticut, you must retreat (get away) if (1) you can do so in complete safety AND (2) you are aware that you can retreat in complete safety. You
do not have to retreat, however, if you are attacked in your home or place of business."
