Freeze warning — part two

Last week I started a discussion about “point and shoot” with the promise I’d give some examples this week.

You hear glass breaking late at night, grab your trusty Glock 45 and head to the kitchen. There, you find a gentleman wearing a ski mask, carrying a backpack, and holding a knife. Do you have to warn him before shooting him? No. Georgia has no law requiring a warning before lighting your gunpowder. Yet people do it. I guess it’s a desire not to kill a fellow human. I get it. But that guy is ready to kill you. Maybe the interloper drops the weapon, gets on the floor, and awaits the arrival of the authorities. Your level of training, preparedness, and options dictate your response, but you have no duty to warn before firing.

You are walking through the Target parking lot (I pick on Walmart too often) at night and see two people facing off, each holding a firearm, yelling. You might be able to ascertain who the wrongdoer is, but if you shoot, you better be right. Yelling “freeze” might work, but I wouldn’t advise doing that until you have taken cover. If you shoot the wrong person, you will get indicted, I promise. You might better sit this one out until you get more information.

I tried a case where a neighbor saw a dude attempting to break into a house. He drove up in his Crown Vic with an “I support law enforcement” tag on the front and yelled “Freeze (expletive)!” The screwdriver-wielding burglar complied and got on the ground as instructed. Law enforcement arrived. Why a jury trial? I wanted a maximum sentence for this repeat offender; he didn’t want that. At trial, he complained to the jury about the way the neighbor detained him, and the jury laughed at him on the stand. It’s not good when a jury laughs at you.

It’s late at night, and someone is excitedly banging on the door. Recently, a variety of homeowners nationwide have shot through the door, killing the person knocking on the other side. In every trial, the jury has convicted the homeowner. Absent some John Wick scenario, shooting through a closed exterior door hardly justifies self-defense. But you hear a burglar break into your home, and you take cover by hiding behind your closed bedroom door. The intruder starts beating on the bedroom door. Shoot through the door! It’s probably okay unless it’s the police, but if you asked the door beater, “Are you the police?” are you going to believe it when they reply that they are? A call to 911 might be prudent if they will stop trying to come through your door.

The point of this exercise is not to answer every question but to show that the more information you have, the better equipped you are. But remember, yelling “freeze” might get you killed.

Kelly Burke, attorney, former district attorney, and magistrate judge, writes about the law, rock’n’roll, politics, or anything that strikes him. Contact Kelly at dakellyburke@gmail.com to comment on this article or suggest articles you’d like to see, and visit his website at www.kellyrburke.com.