Categories: General
      Date: Mar 10, 2010
     Title: Stand Your Ground: New Challenges for Forensic Psychologists, Part Three
Evolving from English Common Law, the Castle Doctrine has expanded to the Stand Your Ground Doctrine, providing immunity from prosecution for Floridians defending themselves, including by the use of deadly force, from presumed criminal attack. The new law places the onus with law enforcers for evaluating the nexus between reasonable fear and deadly force. Forensic scientists are challenged to provide assessment tools proven to be germane, definitive, and quantifiable to assist law enforcers with the accurate determination of authentic and reasonable fear. From the Fall 2006 Forensic Examiner; written by Patricia Wallace, PhD.


The statute continues,

(2) The presumption set forth in subsection (1) does not apply if:

(a) The person against whom the defensive force is used has the right to be in or is a lawful resident of the dwelling, residence, or vehicle, such as an owner, lessee, or titleholder, and there is not an injunction for protection from domestic violence or a written pretrial supervision order of no contact against that person; or

(b) The person or persons sought to be removed is a child or grandchild, or is otherwise in the lawful custody or under the lawful guardianship of, the person against whom the defensive force is used; or

(c) The person who uses defensive force is engaged in an unlawful activity or is using the dwelling, residence, or occupied vehicle to further an unlawful activity; or

(d) The person against whom the defensive force is used is a law enforcement officer, as defined in § 943.10(14), who enters or attempts to enter a dwelling, residence, or vehicle in the performance of his or her official duties and the officer identified himself or herself in accordance with any applicable law or the person using force knew or reasonably should have known that the person entering or attempting to enter was a law enforcement officer. (2005)

Ordinarily, outside of the home or vehicle, a citizen may only use deadly force when it is convincingly believed to be necessary. Following the assumption that the deadly force is necessary, the citizen may act with the knowledge that he or she is no longer legally obliged to retreat.

Next, the statute states,

(3) A person who is not engaged in an unlawful activity and who is attacked in any other place where he or she has a right to be has no duty to retreat and has the right to stand his or her ground and meet force with force, including deadly force if he or she reasonably believes it is necessary to do so to prevent death or great bodily harm to himself or herself or another or to prevent the commission of a forcible felony. (2005)

The fourth subsection clearly delineates one of the basic presumptions of the law— that is, the law postulates that violent invaders of a home or automobile are presumed to be intending to commit violent crimes after they enter.

(4) A person who unlawfully and by force enters or attempts to enter a person’s dwelling, residence, or occupied vehicle is presumed to be doing so with the intent to commit an unlawful act involving force or violence. (2005)

The second and third sections of the Stand Your Ground law amend existing Florida statutes to make explicit the absence of an obligation to retreat. The second section of the Stand Your Ground Law states,

776.012 Use of force in defense of person. --

A person is justified in using force, except deadly force, against another when and to the extent that the person reasonably believes that such conduct is necessary to defend himself or herself or another against the other’s imminent use of unlawful force. However, a person is justified in the use of deadly force and does not have a duty to retreat if:

(a) He or she reasonably believes that such force is necessary to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm to himself or herself or another or to prevent the imminent commission of a forcible felony; or,

(b) Under those circumstances permitted pursuant to § 776.013. (2005)

Section 3 of the Stand Your Ground Law, § 776.031, Florida Statutes, has been amended to state:

776.031 Use of force in defense of others. --

A person is justified in the use of force, except deadly force, against another when and to the extent that the person reasonably believes that such conduct is necessary to prevent or terminate the other’s trespass on, or other tortuous or criminal interfer-

ence with, either real property other than a dwelling or personal property, lawfully in his or her possession or in the possession of another who is a member of his or her immediate family or household or of a person whose property he or she has a legal duty to protect. However, the person is justified in the use of deadly force only if he or she reasonably believes that such force is necessary to prevent the imminent commission of a forcible felony. A person does not have a duty to retreat if the person is in a place where he or she has a right to be. (2005)

To be continued.

Tags: ACFEI, The Forensic Examiner, reasonable force, fear, deadly force, duty to retreat, forensic psychologsts, Stand Your Ground, Castle Doctrine