GA Castle Doctrine

[SPEMack618]

The great state of Georgia has a castle doctrine for defense of one's home. Pretty straightfoward. My question is this:

Does this apply if I'm staying at a house that isn't mine? Such as the Lady Friend's apartment?

 

[MLeake]

Georgia SB396, from 2006 timeframe:

http://www1.legis.ga.gov/legis/2005_06/fulltext/sb396.htm

There is no duty to retreat.

 

[HoraceHogsnort]

Hey Mack, what kinda guy would ya be if you didn't save your lady friend from assault?

 

[SPEMack618]

Thank you, MLeake, my GoogleFu was weak today. I finally stumbled upon the GA Carry site which clarified that law nicely.

And Horace, not a good one, but woe be upon the poor bum that breaks into that Sorority House....

 

[brickeyee]

...shall not be held liable to the person against whom the use of force was justified or to any person acting as an accomplice or assistant to such person in any civil action brought as a result of the threat or use of such force.

Notice carefully, it does NOT prohibit the filing of suite (or even require the person filing to pay when they lose).

 

[MLeake]

brickeyee, if one is worrying about future lawsuits when a guy is coming through the window, one should re-think one's priorities.

 

[brickeyee]

if one is worrying about future lawsuits when a guy is coming through the window, one should re-think one's priorities.

You still need to be aware of what protections the law does, and does NOT give.

 

[MLeake]

That is a true statement, brickeyee. More information, before problems occur, is always good.

That said, I haven't read of any lawsuits being brought against people who were found to have been covered under self-defense laws in GA, since I moved here a few years ago. Have you? In theory, such a suit could be filed. In practice, I'm not so sure that it really is done around here. I suspect even the shark-ish types of attorney don't relish what will most likely be a losing battle, for a client who can most likely only pay if they win.

(Wealthy people sometimes commit the sorts of felonies that justify SD shootings, but the majority seem to be committed by drug users and others who aren't so smart.)

It's even possible that most attorneys around here are too ethical to launch a suit that they know they cannot win under GA statute.

Do you know of any cases where it's been attempted? I'm not trying to give you a hard time, I'm just wondering if you have read or heard of such a thing happening, as opposed to being theoretically possible.

 

[SPEMack618]

While spending a marathon session at the law library today/yesterday, I decided to take a break this morning at around 0330, and I could not find a single case file in which a homeowner defended his home and held either criminally or civilly liable going back to 1998.

Great state to live in down here.

 

[brickeyee]

Virginia is the same way.

No court in the state would likely allow such a case to proceed, if you could even find an attorney foolish enough to file it.

Virginia defines Grand LArceny as taking more than $5 from a person.

http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?000+cod+18.2-95

§ . Grand larceny defined; how punished.
Any person who (i) commits larceny from the person of another of money or other thing of value of $5 or more, (ii) commits simple larceny not from the person of another of goods and chattels of the value of $200 or more, or (iii) commits simple larceny not from the person of another of any firearm, regardless of the firearm's value, shall be guilty of grand larceny, punishable by imprisonment in a state correctional facility for not less than one nor more than twenty years or, in the discretion of the jury or court trying the case without a jury, be confined in jail for a period not exceeding twelve months or fined not more than $2,500, either or both.
(Code 1950, § 18.1-100; 1960, c. 358; 1966, c. 247; 1975, cc. 14, 15, 603; 1980, c. 175; 1991, c. 710; 1992, c. 822; 1998, c. 821.)

No wonder mugging is so uncommon.