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What exactly is this law on use of deadly force?

On Oct. 14, an 80-year-old man killed a would-be burglar in his home. On Thursday, the Guilford County's District Attorney's Office decided not to press charges against the shooter.

Why not?

Assistant DA Howard Neumann said, according to state law, homeowners are justified to use force against intruders (1) when in fear of death or serious bodily harm OR (2) when they believe an intruder intends to commit a felony within the residence.

A reader from Madison questioned that law, so I sent him a link to the law and added it to the story online. You can check out Chapter 14, Article 14 of the N.C. General Statutes, also.

Thank you, Madison reader.

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Posted by Dioni L. Wise on Thursday, October 29, 2009 at 9:10 pm

What do you think?

3 comment(s)

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kikablue

October 29, 2009 - 10:27 pm EDT

I say great, the legal system is finally starting to work for the victims instead of the criminals. WAY PAST TIME TOO. You break into someones home you are commiting a crime. And he sure as heck wasn't there to check on the man's health. You break into my home I don't care if you got a real gun, knife, bb gun, cap gun, or a water pistol. You've done your last crime. Bang, you can answer to your maker.

holland4

November 5, 2009 - 10:39 pm EST

I should point out that -- as written in the state statute -- the conjunction between the phrases is an "or" instead of an "and" as the journalist incorrectly stated. In other words, only one of the criteria must be met in the mind of the victim.

In related news, police had an "incomplete description" of suspects in 99.9993% of all Greensboro cases as determined by N&R coverage.