DEFENDING YOURSELF
The self-defense law has exceptions even for when you personally feel threatened. It says you’re not justified in using deadly force if:
- You’re the instigator. You can’t provoke someone to attack you with the intent of using deadly force in response. Blocking somebody path or pursuing somebody for a sustained period is escalating a conflict.
- You’re the one committing the felony. If someone’s using force to stop your committing a crime, you legally cannot assault them and claim self-defense.
- You are fighting by mutual agreement. Similar to the first exception, you can’t start a fistfight and then fatally stab your unarmed combatant to stop it, unless you withdraw and your opponent continues to use or threaten to use unlawful force. They both fought by mutual agreement and it looks like neither retreated.
STANDING YOUR GROUND
But “stand your ground” means only that you don’t have to retreat. It does not mean you’re justified in pursuing someone who’s no longer a threat. Shoot an aggressor who turns and runs and you’re not on solid legal ground anymore.
COINTELPRO LEGAL ANALYSIS
If they claim self defense or stand your ground, they will get convicted. The only thing they have is citizen arrest; however, they did not have enough evidence of a crime being committed since it was not their property. The owner could have allowed him on his property to do work, he could have been carrying sheet rock and copper pipes out, until he confirmed it with the owner, than he could arrest him. This is what the police would have done before arresting him, got in contact with the owner than confirmed that he had no right to be on their property to establish probable cause.
But if it is a felony, the citizen can stop someone from escaping if the citizen has “reasonable and probable grounds of suspicion.”
He barely has reasonable suspicion, definitely does not have probable cause to stop someone from escaping.
Here is a well known example from back in the day, neighbor called police who entered the property and questioned the owner who was not a burglar breaking into house. They did not make an immediate arrest upon arrival, they had to confirm his right to be on the property by requesting identification (reasonable suspicion), if he produced an ID of a person that was not the owner, than they had probable cause to arrest him. This Georgia statue requires both to stop someone from escaping.
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The owner did an interview and stated he would not want deadly force used and was not sure about calling the police. The two people arrested are going to die in prison.
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