Legal Question in Criminal Law in California

That is a simple question and a difficult question. Generally, if one breaks into your home, and you, as the home-owner, are in fear for your life and possibly the lives of others in the home, have a legal right of deadly force, if , considering all the facts, lethal force is reasonable, under the circumstances. It is a difficult answer because I don't have all the saliant facts regarding the break-in. Was the intruder a stranger or someone you knew who law enforcement felt you had lured to the home ? If you are concerned that law enforcement may feel that self-defense is questionable, contact an attorney immediately. The mere fact you ask this question on this site gives me some reason to believe there are facts that make you nervous about the incident. Contact an attorney IMMEDIATELY and speak about all the facts and, if they are experienced about these matters, as we are, they should be able to give you the advise you need.......... David Wallin

Is the person a 7 year old who lived next door?

You are never justified in shooting someone just to defend property, or because they broke into your home. You may act in self defense or defense of others only when there is an actual threat of immediate danger.

CAN you be convicted and sentenced to prison? Yes, if you are charged with a crime and your self defense argument fails at trial.

When threatened, arrested or charged with any crime, �what can you do�? Hire an attorney, unless you know how to effectively represent yourself in court against a professional prosecutor intending to convict. No amount of free 'tips and hints' from here or anywhere else are going to effectively help you in your defense, other than the advice [if not already too late] to exercise the 5th Amendment RIGHT to SHUT UP and do NOT talk to police or ANYONE about the details of the case except through an attorney. That includes on this or any other web site or public forum. Most police and prosecutors will happily tell you that 95% of people convict themselves by trying to be 'helpful and cooperative', either during initial contact, questioning, interview or interrogation. If serious about hiring counsel to help in this, and if this is in SoCal courts, feel free to contact me.

You will obviously need to hire experienced criminal defense counsel, or as Confucius says: "Man who defend self has fool for client". If serious about hiring counsel to help in this, and if this is in SoCal courts, feel free to contact me.

Since you have not provided any facts about the incident or any back ground information it is very difficult to give you an accurate answer. The simple answer is: Yes, you can be convicted and sent to jail or even worse, you could be sent to prison for shooting someone that broke into your house.

Now, there are a lot of things that may have occurred that could change that. However, rather than guess about what may have occurred I suggest you start spending your time finding an attorney. In this situation you need to speak directly with an attorney and provide them with facts as to what happened and how it happened. The attorney will have lots of questions and you need to answer those questions accurately. Most attorneys offer a free consultation or offer a consultation for a minimal fee in order to analyze the case, especially if they may be considering taking the case. Take the time and spend the money to find out what you might be facing. It is worth it.

If you'd like to contact our office use our web site at www.brianmcginitylaw.com .

Good luck