Posted on 03/12/2002 9:19:13 AM PST by today
I'm trying to find out what the legalities are regarding the limits of force a person can go to to defend himself in his own home. I've always thought that if you shoot an intruder in your home, that's pretty much legal. But I have never been able to find a source on the web. (maybe this law.com will fill the bill)
When I go to the NRA website, I get nothing. If I do a google on self defense I get martial arts. If I do home defense I get security systems.
Any URL's you can steer me too? Thanks in advance for any help you may give.
dave
See if your state firearm laws are linked to here, at SAS's website. Some are linked to and some are not.
Peoples Republic of Maryland
Wow, all this thread pulling Bravo Sierra has made us lose sight of the bigger target, the VD case. Stunning revelations this afternoon, IMO!!
Initial implications, prior to the GAG order, SDPD CHIEF eluded that DW DNA was found in Danielle's room. That was Bravo Sierra, based on today's revelation. Pure hyperbole.....
They had other options but this one was quicker...but this was the root of the false information out there that they found HIS DNA in her room. Many have taken what the chief said, adding one plus one, and got three.
So far, no DW DNA in the home.....so far.
Also, if they have found all these traces of Danielle's blood in her room...we would assume she was killed there.
They talk about blood splatter...ok...so WHO cleaned up the room? If all that was there was tiny splatters...what happened? How could there only be tiny splatters on curtains, beds, closet doors etc?
Someone would have had to clean that room?
GOT ORECK??
Can somebody give me an AMEN!!!!
FresnoDA!!!
http://www.mec.state.md.us/
http://mlis.state.md.us/ (contact info for your rep)...
self-defense n. the use of reasonable force to protect oneself or members of the family from bodily harm from the attack of an aggressor, if the defender has reason to believe he/she/they is/are in danger. Self-defense is a common defense by a person accused of assault, battery or homicide. The force used in self-defense may be sufficient for protection from apparent harm (not just an empty verbal threat) or to halt any danger from attack, but cannot be an excuse to continue the attack or use excessive force. Examples: an unarmed man punches Allen Alibi, who hits the attacker with a baseball bat. That is legitimate self-defense, but Alibi cannot chase after the attacker and shoot him or beat him senseless. If the attacker has a gun or a butcher knife and is verbally threatening, Alibi is probably warranted in shooting him. Basically, appropriate self-defense is judged on all the circumstances. Reasonable force can also be used to protect property from theft or destruction. Self-defense cannot include killing or great bodily harm to defend property, unless personal danger is also involved, as is the case in most burglaries, muggings or vandalism.
By Leonard Novarro
SAN DIEGO (Reuters) - The man charged with abducting and murdering 7-year-old Danielle van Dam had 64,000 sexually provocative images of what appeared to be teenage girls in his computer files, investigators said on Tuesday.
Testifying at a preliminary court hearing in the case against David Westerfield, police said a search of his computer equipment also included about 100 pictures of girls engaged in sexual activity, girls provocatively posing with animals, or performing sexual acts with animals.
San Diego Police detective James Watkins, a computer specialist, told San Diego Superior Court he seized "highly organized" computer files from Westerfield's home.
The files, stored on four computers, a palm pilot (news - web sites), CD-ROMs and computer disks, also contained several animated series, including one depicting a young girl being bound by rope and raped. The girls appeared to be teenagers rather than pre-pubescent children, Watkins said.
Westerfield, 50, who lived two doors away from the van Dams, has pleaded not guilty to possession of child pornography and to charges of kidnapping and murdering the 7-year-old.
Her badly decomposed body was discovered in a rural area outside San Diego on Feb. 27, a month after she was snatched from her suburban bedroom in the middle of the night in a case that attracted nationwide attention.
The files seized from the computer also included photos of the teenage daughter of Westerfield's girlfriend, her hair in a towel, police said.
On cross-examination, Westerfield's attorney Robert Boyce contested the ownership of the computer photos. "You don't know if it was Mr. Westerfield's 18-year-old son or someone staying at the house, do you?" he asked the detective.
Boyce also suggested the girls in the photos might have been "morphed" together from various images of older women and altered to look younger. "Some people look older than others at different ages, don't they?" the attorney asked Watkins.
"Some look younger too," Watkins said.
The photos were introduced over the defense's objections after prosecutor Jeff Dusak argued that they provided a motive for Danielle's abduction, which has remained unclear.
Police are also trying to piece together how Danielle's kidnapper entered her home, found her second floor bedroom and abducted her without anyone noticing.
Westerfield, who is twice divorced, became a prime suspect early on, in part because he took a trip to the desert the day after Danielle vanished and cleaned his motor home thoroughly upon returning.
The preliminary hearings are expected to last several days before San Diego Superior Court Judge H. Ronald Domnitz decides whether to proceed with a trial against Westerfield -- a self-employed engineer who said he had danced with Danielle's mother at a local bar the night her daughter disappeared.
To STAY ON TOPIC...If a PEDOPHILE entered your home while you were sleeping..and say you woke up while he/she was in your hallway, you need to know what your laws allow for self-defense. IE:Firearms. So by calling your state rep, they will at your request for free, send you all pertinant laws regarding that topic.
sw
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