Castle Doctrine in House Courts Criminal Subcommittee Today

Four Castle Doctrine Bills are on the docket for today's House Courts of Justice Criminal Subcommittee meeting today.  The Meeting will take place 1/2 hour after adjournment of the House Session.  The three bills are House Bill 14, House Bill 47, House Bill 48 and House Bill 925.

Both House Bill 14 and 47 would provide civil immunity for an occupant of a dwelling who uses any degree of physical force while engaged in the defense of his dwelling when (i) the other person has unlawfully entered the dwelling and committed an overt act toward the occupant or another person in the dwelling and (ii) the occupant reasonably believes that he or another person in the dwelling is in imminent serious danger of bodily injury.

House Bill 48 and 925 encodes a version of the "castle doctrine," allowing the use of physical force, including deadly force, by a person in his dwelling against an intruder in the dwelling who has committed an overt act against him or another person who is lawfully in the dwelling, without civil liability.