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In response to some comments: If someone breaks down your door and enters your house, I (and I think most others) see nothing wrong with you defending yourself
by itshardbeing 6y ago
In response to some comments:
If someone breaks down your door and enters your house, I (and I think most others) see nothing wrong with you defending yourself.
Why is it different here? It doesn't matter if their intention is to rob you or not.
- scarmig 6y agoIf an aggressive homeless person approaches me on the street and I'm not sure of his state of mind and intentions, should I be allowed to stab him?
- nine_k 6y agoIf you had a serious reason to see his actions as an attack that puts your life or health at risk, serious enough for the jury to believe you — well, yes. It's self-defense, and it does not matter whether the attacker is homeless.
- scarmig 6y agoNah. Relying on the stabber's self attestation "oh I felt really threatened" is always stupid. That's how you get situations like Trayvon Martin. You never know whether someone will attack you. Giving people the right to stab any person who makes them feel threatened is de facto giving people the right to stab people at will.
- nine_k 6y agoIndeed. But if somebody were actively attacking you, having not yet inflicted any harm, I suppose any jury would see your self-defense as self-defense. You don't need to wait to be stabbed to fight back. OTOH if you were to say "he just looked at me just so, and I felt really threatened, so I fought back", it's likely not going to fly.