Legal Question in Criminal Law in Washington
Use of Non-Lethal Self-Defense
If a guilt-less vehicle owner finds that
they are confronted by an individual
aggressively brandishing a weapon
(knife or firearm) in hopes of stealing
the vehicle, does the defending
vehicle owner have justification to
use any non-lethal force, potentially
physically disabling the assailant?
(e.g. TASER use and breaking limbs
to prevent future weapon
retrieval/use)
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Use of Non-Lethal Self-Defense
You may use reasonable force to defender yourself, your property and others. Reasonable force is usually considered force equal to or less than the force used against you. The less enduring the injury the more likely a jury is to find it reasonable. I recommend the TASER over breaking limbs.
For a Hollywood treatment of the use of excessive force in defense see CONAIR.
At your service,
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