Tuesday, April 26, 2011

FL: Shooting ruled self-defense: "A Sunday afternoon shooting in Palm Bay has been ruled self-defense and it is the shooting victim who will face charges, police said today. John Smith, 43, was shot in the chest about 4:20 p.m. at a home in the 2500 block of S.W. Fleming Avenue, police spokeswoman Yvonne Martinez said. The shooter, David Martin, 38, was trying to protect himself from Smith, who forced his way into Martin's home to see his girlfriend."


Oklahoma governor signs bill that expands self-defense rights: "Business owners, managers and employees soon will be able to defend themselves when they have a reasonable fear they face death or great bodily harm. Gov. Mary Fallin on Monday signed into law House Bill 1439, which expands the right to use deadly force when in fear of imminent peril of death or great bodily harm. It takes effect Nov. 1. Rep. Steve Vaughan, the author of the measure, said he filed the bill partly because of a pharmacist who has been charged with first-degree murder after shooting a masked robber six times in May 2009 inside an Oklahoma City pharmacy. Vaughan said HB 1439 is patterned after Oklahoma’s Make My Day Law, which allows use of deadly force against someone who has unlawfully entered a dwelling. The homeowner is presumed to have a reasonable fear of being harmed."

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