Recent cases show possible dangers of confusion
Suburban Journals
By Scott Cousins
Sunday, January 10, 2010 12:36 AM CST
As the old adage about protecting one's property says, "A man's home is his castle."
What's not said is exactly how far he (or she) can go to safeguard a home - or even more vaguely, a car or family.
It's a complex question, as evidenced by two high-profile area cases in recent weeks.
The first, on Dec. 27, involved a St. Louis man who allegedly shot and killed an 18-year-old who was attempting to steal the man's truck.
The next day, two St. Louis police officers shot and killed a man who they said fired at them, but who may have believed he was shooting at an intruder.
While later reports revealed that the victim of the Dec. 28 shooting had a stolen gun and drugs, the incidents raise a striking question: how far can someone go to legally defend themselves or a property? And, if an incident escalates, how can they avoid being mistaken by police for a bad guy?
The answer, it turns out, is far from obvious.
"It's not a cut-and-dry issue," said Sgt. John Fulton, of the St. Clair County Sheriff's Department. He said home protection is a thorny issue, with countless variables and even more unclear answers. "You have to remember there is a whole lot of responsibility."
What is clear - and what prosecutors and cops agree on - is that people generally have the right to defend themselves and their loved ones with deadly force under two broad categories: self-defense and to protect one's dwelling.
Under self-defense, a person must have a reasonable believe that they or someone else is in immediate danger of death or great bodily harm.
"You have to believe you are about to die or suffer severe injury, and the only reasonable way to prevent your death or serious injury is to take lethal force," said Maj. Jeff Connor, of the Granite City Police Department. "Lethal force may not end up in lethal action, but it's a force that is capable of taking someone's life."
Under the other scenario, deadly force is allowed to stop an unlawful entry into a dwelling if a homeowner thinks the intruder's intent is to commit a felony, said Madison County State's Attorney William Mudge. (Breaking into vehicles doesn't count.) But Mudge, a former defense attorney, also said the act of breaking into a home is itself a felony.
"If someone is breaking into your home, you can shoot them," he said. "A man's home is his castle, and I think our laws continue to recognize that."
What to tell the dispatcher
And that's where it gets complicated. While "lethal force" is usually considered any object that can kill, the vast majority of weapons used in defending a property are guns. In fact, about half of gun-owners say self-defense is the primary reason they own a weapon, according to a 1997 Department of Justice report.
It's impossible to know how many times guns are pulled for self-defense, but some studies peg the number as high as 2.5 million times a year. Other reports place the number closer to 100,000.
In the Metro East, a few instances of armed self-defense over the years have received media attention, but they are rare. One factor is that unlike Missouri, where concealed firearms are allowed, Illinois law generally limits people to carrying loaded weapons on their own property or business.
In all cases, police said that whether someone has a gun in a house is a major factor in how they respond to a call of an intruder. For homeowners, it's vital to let authorities know whether they're armed.
"When you go to it knowing there is a weapon or shots fired, you're going to be more prepared as you exit your squad car, as opposed to going to a call where somebody heard something outside their house," said Connor, the Granite City police official.
When an incident happens, he said, homeowners should call 911 and tell police they are armed and what they are wearing. If someone else calls, they might only report that shots were fired, which could lead to deadly confusion.
Connor, an assistant chief with the department, said the more information a dispatcher has, the more can be relayed to officers, allowing them to make better decisions.
"When there is a miscommunication, either by the homeowner not relaying the correct situation or not getting to the police officer, then you get into a situation where an officer pulls up and there is confusion, and he has to make a decision based on what's in front of them," Connor added. "If it's a person with a gun and they're firing it, they have to think about themselves and protect themselves."
He also said that the dispatchers are going to advise the homeowner to put the weapon down once the threat is gone, and that they should stay put.
It's also incredibly important that homeowners not go outside unless absolutely necessary - including chasing intruders, said Madison Police Chief Steve Shelby. "That's not a good idea," he said.
That's because a fleeing suspect is no longer considered a threat, complicating the legal issues, said Fulton, of the St. Clair County Sheriff's Department. When a threat is gone, citizens no longer have the right to continue using force, opening themselves up to criminal charges and the possibility of being sued. "You could become the aggressor," Fulton said.
The confusion factor
But the bigger threat - the one outlined by the Dec. 28 officer shooting in St. Louis - is that chasing suspects can complicate things for police at the scene.
That's what happened in September 2002, when a man dressed as a U.S. Postal worker broke into a home and started attacking a woman with a stun gun in Madison. A passerby heard the struggle and ran in to help the woman.
"He walked up and grabbed one of those gargoyles that were sitting on the front porch and hit" the suspect, recalled Shelby, the Madison police chief.
The suspect left in a daze. The passerby, who was also carrying a handgun, chased after him and fired a warning shot before subduing the suspect. However, the initial 911 call received by police was that an armed man was attacking a postal worker. Police eventually sorted the situation out, but it could have ended much differently, Shelby said.
"There's no way in all the excitement for a police officer to know who is the victim and who is the perpetrator," he said. "How do you know? You pull up on these scenes and have to make split decisions."
Ironically, the passerby, was not only illegally carrying the gun, but was a convicted felon. However, no charges were ever filed against him.
"The way they were looking at it, this guy was definitely in the wrong, but what would the public outcry be if a guy goes out of his way to help somebody, then you charge him with a felony," Shelby said.
He noted that police "sat him down" and had a talk after the incident.
Shelby also noted that in general, police and prosecutors would probably not be overly concerned about minor points of law in legitimate self-defense situations.
"If you're trying to protect yourself," he said, "that's not a big issue for us."
When deadly force may be used
? A person has a "reasonable belief" of imminent danger of death or great bodily harm
? If someone is breaking into a dwelling with the intent to commit a felony
Source: Madison County State's Attorney Office
