Navigating Legal Minefields of Self Defense

A seminar taught by a lawyer familiar with self defense, firearms and their dangers, both legal and real.
$10 + buy your own meal & drinks
April 18, 2016
5:30pm to 8pm

Class will be in a restaurant meeting room in the town of Jackson. Location provided upon registration.

About the seminar

Minefield; def. an area planted with explosive mines; figuratively, a subject or situation presenting unseen hazards.

NOTHING SAID IN THIS CLASS IS LEGAL ADVICE AND A LAWYER/CLIENT RELATIONSHIP SHALL NOT EXIST

Areas Where CCW Holder May Not Carry in Wyoming
- S. § 6-8-104(t)(i) – (xi), Page 16 of your notebook

Prohibited Use of Weapon (Wyoming)

Threatening another person with a drawn weapon, § 6-2-502(a)(iii) – Felony
Reckless Endangering, § 6-2-504(b) — Misdemeanor
Carrying While Intoxicated, § 6-8-104(a), at least if carrying in reliance on § 6-8-104(a)(iv).

Defense of Property

Physical force to eject trespasser to real property
Physical force to prevent theft of personal property
Deadly force justified? When?

Defense of Self in the Home

New Statute

Defense of Self Away From Home

Affirmative Defense
Reasonable actual Fear of Death or SBI
Defense of self or another person
May be a duty to retreat
Prevent specific violent crimes
Beware:
- Initial aggressor
- Mutual combat
- Provoking the attack

Lawful of Use of Deadly Force

Ability, Opportunity, Jeopardy Analysis
Not the actual law anywhere

Avoidance of Violent Encounters

Don’t be where they occur
Armed citizens are polite
Armed citizens are good observers
Keep moving when a stranger approaches
Look them in the eye (unless it’s a grizzly)
Escalation of force principles
Learn Cooper’s Principles of Personal Defense
Herbert W. McBride (1873-1933)

Management of Violent Encounters

Tunnel Vision
Time Dilation
Auditory Exclusion
Gun Handling
Marksmanship
Mindset

Aftermath of a Violent Encounter

Elation – you survived
Revulsion, remorse, self doubt
Acceptance
PTSD
Mark of Cain syndrome

Interacting With the Police After a Violent Encounter.

What to do with the gun you have just used to stop an attacker
To speak or not to speak
Critical incident amnesia
Adrenaline intoxication
Memory recovery
Confusion of time and distance details
Any mistake causes police to think you are lying
You must explain what is not obvious, and this is a minefield
Preserve evidence
Point out witnesses
Emilio Plana, October, 2001, Miami, Florida

Interacting With the Court System

Finding a lawyer – not the one who does your will
Incompetent lawyer – Incompetent defense – Bad Minefield
Imperfect self defense case results in manslaughter conviction
Need for an expert witness
Hollow point ammo
“Too big of a gun”
Hair trigger – revolver problem
Too many shots fired
Self defense or “accidental” shooting?
Prosecutors responsibility is to do justice, not just convict
Incentives are to get convictions, not justice.
No career advancement for doing justice, only for getting convictions

Possible Consequences of a Violent Encounter

Criminal prosecution
Civil Suit – The guy you shot may have been a scumbag, even to his own family, but if he’s dead it’s safe for them to love him again, especially if there’s money in it.
Confiscation of guns
Shunned by friends and family
You may not be arrested or charged with a crime
You can still be a defendant in a civil suit
Increase the personal liability coverage on your homeowners insurance to the maximum
Buy an umbrella liability policy

The following excerpt is from, A Rifleman Went To War, The Classic Account of Practical Marksmanship On The Battlefield of WW I, by H.W. McBride:

[During the summer of 1893 McBride, at the age of 20, worked as a cow puncher in Southern Colorado and Northern New Mexico. He was much impressed with the sort of men he met in that part of the country, and gives this account:]

All of these men had grown up in the West and had lived through the various “wars” and ructions which flared up every now and then, all the way from Texas to the Black Hills. They all bore the scars of combat but the very fact that they had survived was, to my notion, the best evidence that they were good. Those were the days of the survival of the fittest, especially in the case of men who, like all those mentioned, had occupied positions as legal guardians of the peace, all along the border.

From these men I learned many things, the most important of which was the point which they all insisted was absolutely vital: the ability to control one’s own nerves and passions – in other words, never to get excited.

I had the opportunity to see a couple of them in action during some disturbances which came up during the Fourth of July celebration and never will forget that, while armed, they never even made a motion toward a gun: they simply walked up to the belligerent and half drunken “bad men” and disarmed them and then walked them off to the calabozo to cool off. Yes, I learned a lot from those men. That they could shoot, both quickly and accurately, but the thing that enabled them to live to a ripe middle age was not so much due to that accomplishment as to the fact that they were abundantly supplied with that commodity commonly called “guts.” That was the point, above all others, that impressed me and remained with me after I had returned to the East; and, ever since, I have tried to live up to the standard of those pioneers of the shooting game.