Scenario time!

[drw]

I don't know, but I would personally contribute as much money as I could to your legal defense fund.

[grapeno1]

Post removed.

Grapeno1

[seamusTX]

One certainly could be charged with murder in this scenario. A guy who was in exactly this situation a couple of months ago is charged with murder. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,336850,00.html

- Jim

[ScubaSigGuy]

Why does everything bad always happen at 3am? Should I start setting my alarm to go of at 2:45 every morning so I'll be ready, just in case?



is that what Hillary does?

[agbullet2k1]

No expert on the law by any means, but it would seem that anyone can shout "police," even if they're not. The warrant issued was for a different address, so technically they would be conducting an illegal raid right? There is a stipulation in the deadly force code that allows use of deadly force against a LEO if they are using unwarranted deadly force. Don't have the book at my desk so I won't try to quote, but If anyone has one I'd like to read it. I do think you'd be demonized by the media and anties to the point of wanting to move and change your name though. It's kind of a lose-lose situation for everyone.

I'd be interested to hear an LEO point of view on this.

[seamusTX]

The law you're thinking of is in PC §9.31. It allows the use of force (not deadly force) against a peace officer's "use or attempted use of greater force than necessary." I don't know if it would do you much good in this scenario.

All the justifications for use of force or deadly force are defenses to prosecution. That means that the DA can put you on trial and force you to defend yourself in court. Whether that would occur depends upon the individual DA and the politics of the situation (unfortunately).

Police have also engaged in cover-ups and falsification of evidence in some of these cases. That happened when they broke into the home of an elderly woman a couple of years ago and she shot several officers before they killed her.

- Jim

[agbullet2k1]

Found the book. It seems that under 9.32, all you need is to fulfill all requirements of 9.31, plus: reasonably believe that you are in danger of physical harm, reasonably believe that the person is there illegally, and that you are not commiting a crime worthy of deadly force. Again, not a law expert, and if a bunch of people show up at my place for a drug raid (as a mistake, of course), they'll probably find me before I wake up.

That being said, you're definitely going to be in it up to your neck. I do think that it all comes down to how much public support you get. A crooked DA or bad judge can bend or change facts without much oversight because the media doesn't really want to go out of their way to defend a gun owner. If enough people rallied to the cause, I think you'd have a good chance of being aquitted. You'd be in debt the rest of your life. You'd probably lose your job and 2 years of your life in court. You may even have your conscience to deal with forever. You'd be alive, but your life would never be the same.

I like this scenario though, because it really makes me think. On one hand, I want to say that it's their fault for getting the wrong house. I mean, by that point they'd probably been watching the place for weeks, so they have to know what it looks like. On the other hand, I know mistakes happen, and that it's really sad when mistakes lead to tragedies that could have been avoided.

I can almost see this being a case before the Supreme Court if it were to happen.

[txmatt]

If recent history is any indicator the answer is very simple: Yes, you will be charged with not just murder but with first degree murder. And it is entirely possible you will be convicted.

You might get a sympathetic DA, but that does not seem to be the case often enough. Maybe some of these people really did just want to kill a cop-and if so then they should indeed be charged and convicted-, but when we read about people with no criminal record having their doors kicked in in the middle of the night (wrong address, bad informants what have you) it makes one wonder.

[agbullet2k1]

Too true. If someone were just looking for an excuse to shoot a cop, he deserves what he gets. I just hate when an innocent person gets swept up in a mess someone else made. DA's seem to thrive on screen time, so most of them would milk it for all that it's worth, even if they thought you were innocent.

I think that having a phone next to the bed and calling 911 immediately would be the best course. Now I'm not sure how much time passes between waking up and shots fired in the OP's scenario, but a dispatcher could have informed him that police were in the area.

[DoubleJ]

The million dollar question: Would you be charged with murder?

wouldn't matter, you'd feel like crap the rest of your life either way...

[melkor41]

Based on recent history in the news.... If you killed two cops I doubt that you would a) not be charged with SOMETHING (enough anyway) to justify their force and b) that a round to the leg would be all you get.....

[Frost]

I guarantee you that it would go to trial. The outcome of that trial would depend largely on the quality of your lawyer and the people in the jury.

[03Lightningrocks]

The problem I have with this scenario is trying to picture how you would still be alive after opening fire on a whole crew of police officers. My guess would be that in a night raid they are wearing all kinds of protection and probably using some sort of night vision gear. I don't picture it being a "leg" shot.