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Update on Castle Doctrine Legislation PDF Print E-mail
Written by Gary Witt   
Thursday, 01 May 2008

On May 1st, the House Criminal Justice Committee of eight Republicans and seven Democrats accepted Substitute House Bill (HB) 264. There was no discussion and no objection from any of the committee members prior to its acceptance. The bill’s language is now identical (except for one technical issue characterized by one legislator as "insignificant") to the language of Substitute Senate Bill (SB) 184. Substitute SB 184 passed the full Senate unanimously on April 16, 2008.

Under the proposed legislation, an individual (or his legal representative) who was in the process of committing one or more of the violent crimes listed in the bill would not be able to bring a civil lawsuit against an individual who used deadly force to prevent death or serious bodily harm to himself or others. If the deadly force was used in ones home or vehicle, there is a presumption of self defense and the burden of proof otherwise is on the prosecutor. If the deadly force was used anywhere else the burden of proof is on the person who used deadly force to prove it was necessary.

OFCC member Gary Witt attended the House committee meeting on behalf of OFCC. He was told by legislators that the House and Senate leadership will determine which bill moves forward. "It would seem", Witt said, "that having identical language in both bills will make the process easier."

Committee schedules and their agendas are normally posted on Friday afternoons for the following week. Please visit this link for the Criminal Justice Committee. Full text of the Substitute SB 184 can be found here. Substitute HB 264 is not available online as of this writing.