http://www.news-leader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070608/COLUMNISTS17/706080387/1007/NEWS01

June 8, 2007

Sarah Overstreet

We no longer have to worry about being sued by some scofflaw, or perhaps would-be-assassin trying to break into our homes if we defend ourselves with legally permitted weapons.

Part of the law stems from the "Castle Doctrine," a philosophy that specifies that in any residence legally occupied, even a car or place of work, people can defend themselves against attack without fear of prosecution. The origin of the name is the axiom, "A man's home is his castle."

Similar bills have been introduced in several other states, some successful, some not. States most resistant to the doctrine are most U.S. northeastern states.

But in Missouri now, the old joke I've heard from some of my law-enforcement friends, "If you shoot him, be sure you drag him back out in the yard so they won't think you shot him in your house," is gone. Our new law, to take effect Aug. 28, grants civil and criminal immunity to citizens whether they're in their homes, cars, tents or, I guess, cardboard boxes under viaducts, to use deadly force against intruders.

The fact that this fundamental right of protection was ever debated is way over the head of someone with my obviously peace-challenged, non-fellow-human-being-loving intellect. The fact that if you defend yourself against a criminal intent on doing you harm, you can get sentenced to jail, or Mr. Ne'er-Do-Well can go to court and win the belongings he was trying to steal from you in the first place, is Mad Magazineville.

I've had friends poo-poo me when they realize I keep a gun near my bed. One kept a baseball bat, not wanting to touch an obscene gun for any reason. My assumption is that whoever is breaking into my house has a gun him- or herself, or wouldn't be trying this in the first place. I can't guarantee I'll hear the intruder in time to reach my gun, but it's a guarantee I won't if I don't have one.

And I sure suck eggs at trying to brandish a baseball bat.

A couple of my friends hardly believed me when I told them about criminals suing victims they were about to rob or otherwise harm, but it's happened many times.

- In Janesville, Wis., homeowner Michael Rainiero shot Kurt Prochasksa when Prochaska was breaking into Rainiero's' house, where Rainiero's wife and children also were. The shot severed Prochaska's spinal cord. Prochaska sued Rainiero. The lawsuit alleged that Rainiero was negligent in his use of deadly force, causing Prochaska permanent injuries, loss of a livelihood (yeah, he couldn't steal any more) and a decreased quality of life.

- In Iowa, an appellate court ruled a woman who shot and killed an intruder in her home was not covered by her insurance company for defense or indemnity. In other words, self-defense wasn't a good enough excuse to shoot someone breaking into her house. The case is AMCO Ins. Co. and Allied Property and Casualty Ins. Co. v. Estate of Dustin Wehde and Tracey Roberts, if you're interested in looking it up.

- In Durham, N.C., a man who shot and killed another man, saying he was defending his apartment against intruders who barged into the home, was tried for murder. He was acquitted.

That there has been the tiniest brainthrob in anyone's mind, ever, that a person should work for something, own something, love something or someone and not try to protect it — well, it's rare I have no words to express a notion. This time I have no words.

To read about the philosophy which opposes the thinking of the Castle Doctrine, the so-called "duty to retreat" directive in some states, is equally as infuriating and to which I'm at a loss to explain. This concept puts the burden of proof on the intended victim to show he or she was "acting reasonably. This is often taken to mean that the defendant had first avoided conflict and secondly, had taken reasonable steps to retreat and so demonstrated an intention not to fight before eventually using force." (Definition from Wikipedia.)

OK, let's act that out. An intruder breaks in and grabs me. I, of course, not reaching for a weapon but trying my best to avoid conflict, manage to wriggle free (he must be a real cream puff) and try to run (to where I don't know, because my home isn't equipped with a panic room), but all I'm thinking about is doing my best to avoid conflict. As an added measure, I scream, "Sir," along with my polite requests to leave me alone. He steps on my nightgown, and my taking reasonable steps to retreat is temporarily halted. But to demonstrate my intention not to fight, I resist the urge to smack him in the snoot and once again scream, "Please ... sir!" (Screaming, apparently, is not precluded in this doctrine).

Alas, when police find my body, if they ever find it, there will be no video tape to demonstrate to them how politely I demonstrated my efforts to retreat and my intention not to fight.

Thank God that at least in Missouri, the intruders are no longer running the asylum.