TN Castle Laws!

[Guest Rem_700]

Was watching a show last night on National Geo Graphic "Guns in America" and it was talking about castle laws and it gave the states that had them but didn't go into detail,but said Tn had caslte laws.It had the guy from Texas that shot those 2 thieves after they crossed onto his property after coming out of his nieghbors house(Kudo to him) but anyway,anyone care to give the specifics of them?I can't seem to find them on the net.

[Guest Todd@CIS]

In bold.

BTW, regarding the Texas guy, I wouldn't do that in TN...

39-11-611. Self-defense. —

(a) As used in this section, unless the context otherwise requires:

(1) “Business” means a commercial enterprise or establishment owned by a person as all or part of the person's livelihood or is under the owner's control or who is an employee or agent of the owner with responsibility for protecting persons and property and shall include the interior and exterior premises of the business;

(2) “Curtilage” means the area surrounding a dwelling that is necessary, convenient and habitually used for family purposes and for those activities associated with the sanctity of a person's home;

(3) “Dwelling” means a building or conveyance of any kind, including any attached porch, whether the building or conveyance is temporary or permanent, mobile or immobile, that has a roof over it, including a tent, and is designed for or capable of use by people;

(4) “Residence” means a dwelling in which a person resides, either temporarily or permanently, or is visiting as an invited guest, or any dwelling, building or other appurtenance within the curtilage of the residence; and

(5) “Vehicle” means any motorized vehicle that is self-propelled and designed for use on public highways to transport people or property.

( (1) Notwithstanding § 39-17-1322, a person who is not engaged in unlawful activity and is in a place where the person has a right to be has no duty to retreat before threatening or using force against another person when and to the degree the person reasonably believes the force is immediately necessary to protect against the other's use or attempted use of unlawful force.

(2) Notwithstanding § 39-17-1322, a person who is not engaged in unlawful activity and is in a place where the person has a right to be has no duty to retreat before threatening or using force intended or likely to cause death or serious bodily injury, if:

(A) The person has a reasonable belief that there is an imminent danger of death or serious bodily injury;

( The danger creating the belief of imminent death or serious bodily injury is real, or honestly believed to be real at the time; and

© The belief of danger is founded upon reasonable grounds.

© Any person using force intended or likely to cause death or serious bodily injury within a residence, business, dwelling or vehicle is presumed to have held a reasonable belief of imminent death or serious bodily injury to self, family, a member of the household or a person visiting as an invited guest, when that force is used against another person, who unlawfully and forcibly enters or has unlawfully and forcibly entered the residence, business, dwelling or vehicle, and the person using defensive force knew or had reason to believe that an unlawful and forcible entry occurred.

(d) The presumption established in subsection © shall not apply, if:

(1) The person against whom the force is used has the right to be in or is a lawful resident of the dwelling, business, residence, or vehicle, such as an owner, lessee, or titleholder; provided, that the person is not prohibited from entering the dwelling, residence, or occupied vehicle by an order of protection, injunction for protection from domestic abuse, or a court order of no contact against that person;

(2) The person against whom the force is used is attempting to remove a person or persons who is a child or grandchild of, or is otherwise in the lawful custody or under the lawful guardianship of, the person against whom the defensive force is used;

(3) Notwithstanding § 39-17-1322, the person using force is engaged in an unlawful activity or is using the dwelling, business, residence, or occupied vehicle to further an unlawful activity; or

(4) The person against whom force is used is a law enforcement officer, as defined in § 39-11-106, who enters or attempts to enter a dwelling, business, residence, or vehicle in the performance of the officer's official duties, and the officer identified the officer in accordance with any applicable law, or the person using force knew or reasonably should have known that the person entering or attempting to enter was a law enforcement officer.

(e) The threat or use of force against another is not justified:

(1) If the person using force consented to the exact force used or attempted by the other individual;

(2) If the person using force provoked the other individual's use or attempted use of unlawful force, unless:

(A) The person using force abandons the encounter or clearly communicates to the other the intent to do so; and

( The other person nevertheless continues or attempts to use unlawful force against the person; or

(3) To resist a halt at a roadblock, arrest, search, or stop and frisk that the person using force knows is being made by a law enforcement officer, unless:

(A) The law enforcement officer uses or attempts to use greater force than necessary to make the arrest, search, stop and frisk, or halt; and

( The person using force reasonably believes that the force is immediately necessary to protect against the law enforcement officer's use or attempted use of greater force than necessary.

[Acts 1989, ch. 591, § 1; 1990, ch. 1030, § 8; 2007, ch. 210, § 1; 2008, ch. 1012, § 1.]

Edited December 11, 2008 by Todd@CIS

[Guest Rem_700]

Thanks Todd!

[Guest Big Mike]

I belive the magic/governing word if "Forcible".

[Fallguy]

I belive the magic/governing word if "Forcible".

But that doesn't have to mean them kicking down the door or breaking the window.

Had a LEO tell me once that if the BG just turns the door handle that is using force to open the door.

[midtennchip]

But that doesn't have to mean them kicking down the door or breaking the window.

Had a LEO tell me once that if the BG just turns the door handle that is using force to open the door.

Just keep in mind that was just the LEO's opinion. I am not saying it is wrong, but I doubt a jury would look at it that way in all cases. For example, you live in an apartment with doors very close together and your new neighbor opens the wrong door. If you shoot, the jury may not be very understanding.

To me, the key word is "reasonably." That is, the fact that a BG did or did not use "force" to get into the house is probably AS MUCH of an issue as what you reasonably believe in regard to force. If your idiot teenage leaves the door wide open and a BG just walks in on you while you're in bed, I think you would have a reasonable belief that he forced his way in when you see him standing over your bed.

[BigPoppa]

The HCP video, produced and distributed by The State of Tennessee, illustrates this very point by having the simulated BG butt his cigarette and slide open an unlocked sliding glass door.

No crow bar, no picking the lock, no C4, no "burglary tools" - dude slides the door open.

FWIW

[Guest GUTTERbOY]

But that doesn't have to mean them kicking down the door or breaking the window.

Had a LEO tell me once that if the BG just turns the door handle that is using force to open the door.

Well, that's certainly correct from a physics standpoint.

[BigPoppa]

BTW, regarding the Texas guy, I wouldn't do that in TN...

I concur. Probably no bueno around here.

[Guest Sixguns]

I had a guy try to break into my house while I was living in Clarksville. Woke up in the middle of the night to a guy trying to break down the door. So I grabbed the 12 Gauge and went to the door. He said he wanted gas, and I told him to get off my porch. I racked the shotgun and he ran off. I probably should have shot first, but control got the better of me.

[BigPoppa]

I had a guy try to break into my house while I was living in Clarksville. Woke up in the middle of the night to a guy trying to break down the door. So I grabbed the 12 Gauge and went to the door. He said he wanted gas, and I told him to get off my porch. I racked the shotgun and he ran off. I probably should have shot first, but control got the better of me.

Not if he was still on the porch.

[Guest TNK]

I was under the impression that breaking down doors and breaking windows to come in was good enough grounds to shoot someone on in TN...are they not forcefully entering your home?

[BigPoppa]

I was under the impression that breaking down doors and breaking windows to come in was good enough grounds to shoot someone on in TN...are they not forcefully entering your home?

They're trying to, but they're not there yet. Just like a touchdown in football, they have to break the plane. The statute reads "enters" or "entered" - not "trying to enter".

This is the (ridiculous) age old argument, "I'll shoot him in the yard/in the shed/on the porch and drag him in the house" REEEEALLY bad idea

[Guest Revelator]

Actually, the statute now extends the castle doctrine much further than the house. Read the definitions of "residence" and "curtilage" in the law posted here. It certainly extends to the porch and yard; probably all the way out to the street.

[Guest GUTTERbOY]

This is the (ridiculous) age old argument, "I'll shoot him in the yard/in the shed/on the porch and drag him in the house" REEEEALLY bad idea

I seriously crack up every time I see someone say/type that. Do they really think the cops won't notice a blood trail and drag marks starting in the front lawn and going into the house?

[Punisher84]

I seriously crack up every time I see someone say/type that. Do they really think the cops won't notice a blood trail and drag marks starting in the front lawn and going into the house?

LOL Glad I'm not the only one who thought that.

[BigPoppa]

Actually, the statute now extends the castle doctrine much further than the house. Read the definitions of "residence" and "curtilage" in the law posted here. It certainly extends to the porch and yard; probably all the way out to the street.

You're the lawyer...but if we go back to the previous post (Unarmed, as far as we know, man on the porch beating on the door asking for gasoline. Is that a shoot you want to defend in front of a jury ?

"He forcibly entered my porch" ?

Guy with a rifle on or in my "curtilage" ? sure

Drunk/lost/retarded guy on the stoop ? I'm holding my fire for now while advising him to find other curtilage.

As I tell classes.......what is legal may not always be wise.

Edited December 11, 2008 by BigPoppa

[Punisher84]

You're the lawyer...but if we go back to the previous post (Unarmed, as far as we know, man on the porch beating on the door asking for gasoline. Is that a shoot you want to defend in front of a jury ?

"He forcibly entered my porch" ?

Guy with a rifle on or in my "curtilage" ? sure

Drunk/lost/retarded guy on the stoop ? I'm holding my fire for now while advising him to find other curtilage.

As I tell classes.......what is legal may not always be wise.

I'm stealing that. "Sir, you be in my curtilage. Step back forthwith."

[Guest Revelator]

You're the lawyer...but if we go back to the previous post (Unarmed, as far as we know, man on the porch beating on the door asking for gasoline. Is that a shoot you want to defend in front of a jury ?

"He forcibly entered my porch" ?

Guy with a rifle on or in my "curtilage" ? sure

Drunk/lost/retarded guy on the stoop ? I'm holding my fire for now while advising him to find other curtilage.

As I tell classes.......what is legal may not always be wise.

True. I was just talking about geography. There's still the ever-crucial reasonable belief of danger. Now you are presumed to have held that belief if in your home, but I wouldn't go testing it on an unarmed person who essentially is posing no threat.

[BigPoppa]

True. I was just talking about geography. There's still the ever-crucial reasonable belief of danger. Now you are presumed to have held that belief if in your home, but I wouldn't go testing it on an unarmed person who essentially is posing no threat.

Okay. I think now we're on the same sheet of music !!

Thanks Patrick !

[Bocephus]

I had a guy try to break into my house while I was living in Clarksville. Woke up in the middle of the night to a guy trying to break down the door. So I grabbed the 12 Gauge and went to the door. He said he wanted gas, and I told him to get off my porch. I racked the shotgun and he ran off. I probably should have shot first, but control got the better of me.

A good decision on your part.

[Guest oldhack62]

Also keep in mind that what gets you off the hook criminally, might be another matter civilly -- although you can certainly use the criminal allowance as evidence of an exception to civil liability.

Doesn't mean a civil jury will buy it, though.

[jay1313g]

Criminally or civilly, plan to spend $30,000 to have someone explain your actions in court. My family's safety is worth it but, shooting someone for being in my yard???? Not so much.

[Fallguy]

Ok remember...no matter where you are, your house, public, a friend's or wherever, you must be reasonably in fear of imminent serious bodily harm or death to use deadly force.

The part about unlawfully and forcibly entering your house, car, business, etc... has to do with that you are simply presumed to be in that fear if those actions occurred. It is not an automatic green light or free-to-shoot card. If the DA can prove it was not reasonable for you to be in fear, you could be charged and convicted. The difference is he as to prove where as out in public you may have to prove that you where.

Also if person is standing over your bed with a knife, I would think it is reasonable for you to be in imminent fear of death or serious bodily harm whether person unlawfully and forcibly entered or whether they walked through an open door or if Scotty beamed them in there.

If a person is banging on your door in the middle of the night...would that be a reasonable fear, probably not. But if they are banging and banging, saying, "I'm going to kill you!" over and over and they just won't go away...well... that might be a different story. You probably would have to prove that you were in reasonable fear, but you may be able to.

Again the thing to remember is you must be reasonably in fear of imminent serious bodily harm or death to use deadly force, the other stuff just has to do with if it is presumed or not.

Another thing to remember is, you have no duty to retreat as long as you are any place you have a legal right to be.

[Guest HexHead]

I'm guessing if the BG kicks in your door, but hasn't crossed the threshold yet when you stop him, Castle Law would apply.