San Diego Criminal Lawyers Blog
A woman confided in her brother about her husband’s threats and abuse. They mulled over various ways to eliminate her abuser, who had dragged her through dog feces, gripped her hand in order to break the glass she was holding, causing the shards to slice her hand, pulled her hair, and punched her. Worse yet, he had threatened to murder their two children when she left him once. The woman had twice called the police to report the domestic violence but discovered that officers appeared unwilling to do anything more than advise the couple to work out their problems. That led the woman’s brother to take matters into his own hands, and after some friends lured his sister’s abusive husband to a remote site, he shot and killed the man. Both the abuse victim and her brother went to prison with life sentences. That was in 1984. The brother died in prison. The woman is still there.
The Castle Doctrine
Four decades later, not a lot has changed when it comes to women killing their abusers. The castle doctrine– a 17th-century law that embraced its European homeland– gives any man the right to protect himself and his property—which includes his wife and children– when attacked. When not within the confines of his home, conversely, a man was expected to retreat when attacked. But that all changed in 1876 with the development of the true man doctrine. It stated that a “true man” would never retreat from a conflict. This developed into states creating stand your ground laws in 2005. Such laws give people in some states the right to defend themselves in their homes, cars, hotel rooms, and so forth when under attack, as well as in public spaces. However, in California, public spaces are a different matter, and retreating is required if lethality is not necessary. At any rate, these laws were not written to apply to domestic violence situations because both individuals in a home have the right to be there. In other words, one can protect oneself from dangerous threats originating from outside the home but not from those spewing up inside, where victims of domestic violence are at the greatest risk.