Lancaster County Shooting Ruled Justified Self Defense

[Mosinshooter762]

US LawShield

For certain reasons, the Castle Doctrine could extend beyond even your dwelling or residence. For example, the presumption we spoke about also applies to an occupied vehicle. If someone is in the process of unlawfully and forcefully entering your occupied vehicle, if they already have unlawfully and forcefully entered, or they're unlawfully and forcefully removing you from an occupied vehicle, you'll get a presumption in those situations. Notice that the law says "occupied vehicle." This law is meant to protect lives, not property.

I completely agree about the importance of protecting people in homes and cars. The question is do the Pennsylvania courts agree?

Florida has a nearly identical presumption provision covering dwellings, residences and occupied vehicles. I don't believe the Florida courts have ever definitively answered whether this presumption is rebuttable or conclusive, but the case law for the most part seems to operate as if the statutory presumption (so long as no statutory exceptions to this are shown) is conclusive. If the Pennsylvania courts followed this line of Florida case law then it would be clear there would be no functional duty to retreat when in a car if the elements of the statutory presumption were met and no statutory exceptions apply.

The problem is this is not how the Pennsylvania courts have applied the provision so far. The Pennsylvania courts have assumed, without apparently deciding, that these statutory presumptions are rebuttable and they may only be merely inferences that the jury may of used even before the enactment of this law. But the jury still doesn't have to use any permissible inferences that the presumption may bring even with this law. This is what a majority of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court said in Commonwealth vs Childs.

This is not what I believe the legislature intended by enacting this. Basically, a majority of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in Childs found that the Enhanced Castle Doctrine (at least as applied to the statutory presumption in a dwelling) was a procedural statute and didn't change when one has a right to use deadly force. According to the court, its passage may of only affected how a fact finder evaluates a case. Based on the majority opinion, it is not clear what the PA Supreme Court thinks this law changed (at least with the statutory presumptions) other than how jury instructions are apparently worded about permissible inferences and certain evidentiary evaluation.

Please see Commonwealth vs Childs 142 A. 3d 823 - Pa: Supreme Court 2016. I have quoted the relevant parts below. I bolded some areas for emphasis.

In this appeal by the Commonwealth, we are asked to determine whether William Childs ("Childs") was entitled to a castle doctrine[1] jury instruction pursuant to 18 Pa.C.S.A. § 505(b)(2.1), which became effective after Childs was charged with the crimes at issue but prior to his trial on those charges. We conclude that section 505(b)(2.1) does not affect a person's right to use deadly force within his or her home, but rather creates an evidentiary presumption relevant to the evaluation of such a claim of self-defense, and is therefore a procedural statute. Because section 505(b)(2.1) became effective prior to Childs' trials, he was entitled to jury instructions in conformance therewith. We therefore affirm the Superior Court's decision vacating Childs' judgment of sentence and remanding for a new trial.

In July 2010, Childs was residing with Michael Beander ("Beander") and Samuel Andrews ("Andrews") in Andrews' house. On July 29, 2010, Andrews invited Bryant Bell ("Victim") to come over to celebrate Victim's birthday. All four men were socializing in the residence when Childs and Victim began to argue. During the argument, Victim called Childs, who has a spinal cord injury and uses a cane, a cripple. Upset by the encounter, Andrews told Victim to leave. Beander and Victim exited the residence and sat on the front steps, while Andrews retreated to his bedroom. Childs remained in the house.

Almost immediately, Childs and Victim restarted their argument, trading insults and threats through the screen door. After a few minutes of this back-and-forth, Victim ascended the stairs, picked up a broomstick that had been sitting on the porch, and approached the door. Victim overcame Childs' efforts to hold the screen door closed and entered the residence. Victim struck Childs with the broomstick several times before Childs stabbed Victim in the chest. Although Childs stabbed Victim only once, Victim died from this wound. Childs was arrested and charged with homicide and possessing instruments of crime ("PIC").[2]

On June 28, 2011, the legislature passed Act 2011-10, H.B. No. 40 ("Act 10"),[3] amending Titles 18 (Crimes and Offenses) and 42 (Judicial Procedure) of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes. Of relevance to the present case, Act 10 included amendments to 18 Pa.C.S.A. § 505, Limitations on Justifying Necessity for Use of Force. These amendments included section 505(b)(2.1), which provides:

Except as otherwise provided in paragraph (2.2), an actor is presumed to have a reasonable belief that deadly force is immediately necessary to protect himself against death, serious bodily injury, kidnapping or sexual intercourse compelled by force or threat if both of the following conditions exist:

(i) The person against whom the force is used is in the process of unlawfully and forcefully entering, or has unlawfully and forcefully entered and is present within, a dwelling, residence or occupied vehicle; or the person against whom the force is used is or is attempting to unlawfully and forcefully remove another against that other's will from the dwelling, residence or occupied vehicle.

(ii) The actor knows or has reason to believe that the unlawful and forceful entry or act is occurring or has occurred.

18 Pa.C.S.A. § 505(b)(2.1).
...

"The traditional common[ ]law castle doctrine is a basic tenet of American law: `The principle that a man's home is his castle is basic to our system of jurisprudence.'" Wyatt Holliday, "The Answer to Criminal Aggression Is Retaliation": Stand-Your-Ground Laws and the Liberalization of Self-Defense, 43 U. Tol. L.Rev. 407, 408 (2012) (quoting Lombard v. Louisiana, 373 U.S. 267, 275, 83 S.Ct. 1122, 10 L.Ed.2d 338 (1963) (Douglas, J., concurring)). The ideological foundation for the castle doctrine is the belief that a person's home is his castle and that one should not be required to retreat from his sanctum. Denise M. Drake, The Castle Doctrine: An Expanding Right to Stand Your Ground, 39 St. Mary's L.J. 573, 584 (2008). The castle doctrine is often described as being of ancient origins. Joshua G. Light, The Castle Doctrine * The Lobby Is My Dwelling, 22 Widener L.J. 219, 221 (2012); see also H.B. 40 159th Gen. Assemb., Reg. Sess. (Pa.2011)). Indeed, a reference to this concept is found in the Bible: "If the thief is caught while breaking in and is struck so that he dies, there will be no bloodguiltiness on his account." Exodus 22:2 (New American Standard Bible). When this Court addressed the castle doctrine in 1952, we explained that it "has always been recognized as the law in this State" and that the castle doctrine's acceptance is "universal." Commonwealth v. Fraser, 369 Pa. 273, 85 A.2d 126, 128 (1952).

Although the castle doctrine has existed at common law in this Commonwealth essentially since its founding, it was not codified in Pennsylvania until 1972, with the enactment of 18 Pa.C.S.A. § 505. In enacting section 505, the legislature sought "to codify existing case law pertaining to `self-defense' and to cover in a single rule the law governing the use of defensive force." 18 Pa.C.S.A. § 505 (amended June 28, 2011), Official Comment 1972. The legislature emphasized that section 505 made no substantial change to the existing law. Id. Section 505 set forth the circumstances under which the use of force for purposes of self-defense was justified, and addressed the use of deadly force specifically in subsection (b)(2). Within this provision, the castle doctrine was codified as follows:

(b) Limitations of justifying necessity for use of force:

* * *

(2) The use of deadly force is not justifiable under this section unless the actor believes that such force is necessary to protect himself against death, serious bodily injury, kidnapping or sexual intercourse compelled by force or threat; nor is it justifiable if:

* * *

(ii) the actor knows that he can avoid the necessity of using such force with complete safety by retreating or by surrendering possession of a thing to a person asserting a claim of right thereto or by complying with a demand that he abstain from any action which he has no duty to take, except that:

(A) the actor is not obliged to retreat from his dwelling or place of work, unless he was the initial aggressor or is assailed in his place of work by another person whose place of work the actor knows it to be[.]

18 Pa.C.S.A. § 505(b)(2)(ii)(A) (amended June 28, 2011). The official comment to this provision reiterated the precept of the castle doctrine, restating that "[a] person is not required to retreat if he is attacked in his own home." 18 Pa.C.S.A. § 505 (amended June 28, 2011), Official Comment 1972.

This statute remained unchanged until the passage of Act 10 on June 28, 2011. The preamble to Act 10 explains that its purpose was to strengthen the right of self-defense. See H.B. 40 159th Gen. Assemb., Reg. Sess. (Pa.2011). In so doing, however, Act 10 did not substantively alter the law regarding the use of deadly force within a residence. The statute, as amended by Act 10, provides as follows:

(2) The use of deadly force is not justifiable under this section unless the actor believes that such force is necessary to protect himself against death, serious bodily injury, kidnapping or sexual intercourse compelled by force or threat; nor is it justifiable if:

* * *

(ii) the actor knows that he can avoid the necessity of using such force with complete safety by retreating, except the actor is not obliged to retreat from his dwelling or place of work, unless he was the initial aggressor or is assailed in his place of work by another person whose place of work the actor knows it to be.

18 Pa.C.S.A. § 505(b)(2)(ii). Although revised in format, current section 505(b)(2)(ii) and former section 505(b)(2)(ii)(A) both provide that a person may use deadly force if he or she believes that it is necessary to prevent death, serious bodily injury, kidnapping, or sexual intercourse compelled by force or threat, and that there is no duty to retreat from the person's dwelling or place of work unless that person is the initial aggressor or is assailed by a person who also works in the same place. The elements of a castle doctrine defense remained unaltered.

Act 10 further amended section 505(b) to add six subsections. The subsections included the statute at issue in the present case, the relevant portion of which we reiterate:

Except as otherwise provided in paragraph (2.2), an actor is presumed to have a reasonable belief that deadly force is immediately necessary to protect himself against death, serious bodily injury, kidnapping or sexual intercourse compelled by force or threat if both of the following conditions exist:

(i) The person against whom the force is used is in the process of unlawfully and forcefully entering, or has unlawfully and forcefully entered and is present within, a dwelling, residence or occupied vehicle....

(ii) The actor knows or has reason to believe that the unlawful and forceful entry or act is occurring or has occurred.

18 Pa.C.S.A. § 505(b)(2.1). Section 505(b)(2.1) does not alter a person's right to use deadly force within a dwelling. Rather, by its plain language, section 505(b)(2.1) creates a presumption.

In general terms, "a presumption is a standardized practice, under which certain facts are held to call for uniform treatment with respect to their effect as to proof of other facts." 2 Kenneth S. Broun, et al., MCCORMICK ON EVIDENCE 675-76 (7th ed.2013). Presumptions are "staples of our adversary system of factfinding." Commonwealth v. MacPherson, 561 Pa. 571, 752 A.2d 384, 389 (2000) (quoting County Court of Ulster County v. Allen, 442 U.S. 140, 156, 99 S.Ct. 2213, 60 L.Ed.2d 777 (1979)); see also City of Pittsburgh v. W.C.A.B. (Robinson), 620 Pa. 345, 67 A.3d 1194, 1204 (2013); Commonwealth v. Hall, 574 Pa. 233, 830 A.2d 537, 544 (2003). "It is often necessary for the trier of fact to determine the existence of an element of the crime * that is, an `ultimate' or `elemental' fact * from the existence of one or more `evidentiary' or `basic' facts." MacPherson, 752 A.2d at 389 (quoting County Court of Ulster County, 442 U.S. at 156, 99 S.Ct. 2213). Presumptions and inferences[8] are the evidentiary mechanisms that allow such determinations to be made. Hall, 830 A.2d at 544.

The presumption created by section 505(b)(2.1)[9] codifies the inference between certain basic facts (an unlawful and forceful entry and knowledge thereof, as described in subsections 505(b)(2.1)(i) and (ii)), and an element of a castle doctrine defense (a reasonable belief that deadly force is immediately necessary). Both before and after the enactment of section 505(b)(2.1), a finder of fact could make this inference, and section 505(b)(2.1) merely provides the factfinder with an evidentiary mechanism to assist in evaluating the merits of making this inference based upon the specific facts presented in the case. We note that the current standard jury instruction directs the jury to "[c]onsider the realities of the situation faced by the defendant... when you assess whether the Commonwealth has proved beyond a reasonable doubt either that [the defendant] did not believe [he] was actually in danger of death or serious bodily injury ... or that, while [the defendant] did believe that, [that] belief was unreasonable." Pa.SSJI (Crim) § 9.501A (2012).

Section 505(b)(2.1) does not, as the Commonwealth contends, broaden the rights of the accused when asserting a castle doctrine defense. Commonwealth's Brief at 14. To the contrary, both before and after the enactment of section 505(b)(2.1), a defendant was justified in using deadly force if he or she was not the initial aggressor and had a reasonable belief that such force was necessary to protect against death, serious bodily injury, kidnapping, or sexual intercourse compelled by force or threat, and a defendant had no duty to retreat when attacked in his or her dwelling. Likewise, both before and after the enactment of section 505(b)(2.1), the Commonwealth could overcome a claim of self-defense under the castle doctrine by establishing that the defendant did not actually possess the requisite fear or that the defendant's belief was not reasonable.[10] In sum, the section 505(b)(2.1) presumption does not alter either the elements of a castle doctrine defense or the historical right to use deadly force in one's home.[11] Instead, it provides an evidentiary mechanism to aid in the factfinder's evaluation of the merits of a castle doctrine defense.

As evidentiary mechanisms, presumptions have no effect unless or until they are implicated in the course of a criminal proceeding...

[Walleye Hunter]

Hmmm...very interesting.

[rgaper]

The cyclist is apparently a doctor affiliated with UPMC. Google and you can see his crazy eyes. Pretty young wife and 2 young children that he almost orphaned... what an idiot.

[sbmania]

I know some of these bikers think they own the road and have no problem bringing an entire line of cars to a near standstill behind them whilst they pedal merrily along. But racing after a car that beeped at you and trying to enter the car in a (presumably) aggressive manner just seems pretty stupid. I'm not sure I would want a personal physician treating me who reasons like that.