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HAPPY HOUR
MON-SAT 5-8 | ALL DAY SUNDAY
926 W. GARLAND AVE
SUN-THURS 4pm-MI D NI G HT | FRI - SAT 4pm-2am The William L. Davis, S.J. Lecture Series Presents
A Gonzaga University 125th Anniversary Event “Father Peter De Smet or Father Joseph Cataldo: Who is the Founder of Jesuit Education in the Pacific Northwest?” An Illustrated Lecture by Dr. Robert Carriker Dr. Carriker is the author of Father Peter John De Smet: Jesuit in the West (University of Oklahoma Press) and “Joseph M. Cataldo, S.J.: Courier of Catholicism” in Churchmen and the Western Indians (University of Oklahoma Press). He is the Alphonse and Geraldine Arnold Distinguished Professor of the College of Arts and Sciences at Gonzaga University.
Wednesday, April 10 7 p.m. Wolff Auditorium in the Jepson School of Business
(located at the end of N. Astor Street behind St. Aloysius Church)
This presentation is free and open to the public
18 INLANDER APRIL 4, 2013
Brendon Kaluza-Graham, 25, was killed in northeast Spokane while allegedly stealing an SUV parked in a driveway.
A Time to Kill
KXLY PHOTO
Two fatal Spokane shootings reveal the fuzziness of self-defense law BY JACOB JONES
F
ew people oppose the right to self-preservation. Even the Florida attorney representing the family of slain Trayvon Martin in the nation’s most controversial self-defense case acknowledges an individual’s legal right to protect him or herself. Through legislative sessions and court rulings, each state has developed its own standards — sometimes complex and contradictory — to define the fuzzy line between self-defense and murder. Legal justifications hang on “castle” doctrines, duty-to-retreat rules and “Stand Your Ground” laws. Civil rights lawyer Benjamin Crump, the lead attorney in the Martin case, says self-defense laws have long protected residents inside their homes or under other dire circumstances. But he fears the spread of more permissive laws may promote vigilantism or increased street violence. “You have laws that encourage people to take the law into their own hands,” he says. “We don’t want it to be like the wild, wild West.” Two recent fatal shootings in Spokane illustrate the high stakes and ethical nuances of Washington’s self-defense law. Cases may hinge on which side of a doorjamb someone was standing on, a shadow through tinted glass or a frantic split-second decision. Marty Hayes, president of the Washingtonbased Armed Citizens’ Legal Defense Network, argues the state’s self-defense standards have become increasingly vague in recent years, as policies have been pieced together from case law and statutory codes. “We no longer have a clear-cut self-defense law,” he says. “Everything is as clear as mud right now.”
W
ashington state law says a person may commit justifiable homicide in self-defense when that person fears “a design on the part of the person slain to commit a felony or to do some great personal injury to the
slayer or [another person].” The state Supreme Court has held that a person must believe there is an “imminent danger” of injury or death before using deadly force. State law also allows someone to use deadly force to protect his or herself within their home, a legal defense commonly known as the Castle Doctrine. Washington does not have a specific “castle” law, but it does have very similar language extending the right to protect one’s self and others in a residence. In recent years, much of the national debate on self-defense law has centered around so-called “Stand Your Ground” laws that allow a person to hold fast when attacked in public and fight back instead of fleeing. Supporters argue the law protects law-abiding citizens from becoming victims. Opponents say the law promotes half-cocked street justice. The debate exploded last year with the death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in Sanford, Fla. In that case, neighborhood watch captain George Zimmerman pursued and confronted Martin while the unarmed teen was walking home. A struggle ensued, and Zimmerman fatally shot Martin. Zimmerman has argued he fired in selfdefense, claiming his right to protect himself on a public street. Prosecutors initially declined to pursue any charges on the basis of the Stand Your Ground law, drawing public outcry over Zimmerman’s actions and the response from law enforcement. (He was later changed with second-degree murder and is awaiting trial.) While Washington does not have an explicit Stand Your Ground law on the books, the state Supreme Court has repeatedly upheld similar wording in case law, emphasizing a person can stand and fight. “The law is well settled that there is no duty to retreat when a person is assaulted in a place where he or she has a right to be,” the court states in a 2003 opinion.