On paper, I’m not a fan of the “castle doctrine.” The castle doctrine is the theory that you can kill people to defend your home and, from a philosophical standpoint, I favor a “duty to retreat” even if inside your house. If you can safely and reasonably remove yourself and your family from danger, you should, instead of opening fire.
Again, on paper, in the philosophical realm where such things can be viewed in the soothing light of perfect information. In practice, I mean, if somebody breaks into your house and winds up dead, so be it. If somebody breaks into my house, my perception of “reasonable” “safety” is going to be skewed. If I have the opportunity to end the threat, I’ll take it.
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But if we’re talking about my yard and not my house, I certainly don’t think I should be allowed to pour boiling oil on potential intruders as if I were defending an actual castle. At the point where I’m chasing somebody into the street who is running away from my house, I’m no longer the defender, I’m the attacker, and the law should treat me as such.
That thought puts me on the same side as a jury in Louisiana. Trust me, I’m as surprised as anybody. But a man was put on trial for chasing a home intruder out into the street and shooting at him while he attempted to flee in his car. And you know what, they convicted him of attempted manslaughter. From the ABA Journal:
Jurors on Thursday convicted 27-year-old Aaron Neames of Walker, the Advocate reports. The defense had argued Neames was protected by the state’s “stand your ground” law.
The Advocate tells the story of the 2015 incident, as alleged by police and prosecutors. Neames wasn’t home when Benjamin Jarreau first entered the home. Jarreau told police he had targeted Neames’ house because he had purchased drugs there before and believed he could find money to repay a drug debt.
While in the home, Jarreau allegedly stole cellphones, fired his gun and shot at Neames’ feet when he arrived. Neames and others in the home were able to take the gun from Jarreau, and Neames allegedly pistol-whipped him in the head.
Jarreau escaped and got in his car. Neames fired at it six times, striking Jarreau in the elbow and arm.
You’ll note that Neames wasn’t arguing “self-defense.” How could he, he was clearly no longer defending himself. He wasn’t referring to the castle doctrine, because he was no longer in his castle when he shot at a moving vehicle six times. Instead, he went with “stand your ground” which, as most of you know, refers to some state statutes that allow you to stand in the street like a comic book character wreaking havoc and destruction instead of just running away when you have the chance.
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But here, Neames wasn’t even standing his ground. His ground was unmolested. He was shooting at a fleeing man. It seems appropriate to me that the jury convicted him.
Would that we could hold cops to the same standard. Would that shooting fleeing suspects in moving vehicles was frowned upon in this establishment.
In any event, good job… Louisiana. Y’all did something right. Gumbo Gumbo Gumbo.
Louisiana man convicted of attempted manslaughter for shooting at fleeing home invader [ABA Journal]
Elie Mystal is the Executive Editor of Above the Law and the Legal Editor for More Perfect. He can be reached @ElieNYC on Twitter, or at [email protected]. He will resist.