If you are ever involved in an armed self-defense situation, it will become a clash between your attorney and a state prosecutor. And no matter how “justified” you may believe that your actions were, the outcome is never guaranteed. Contrary to the simplistic views often portrayed on television, there is no specific formula for the use or threat of lethal force in self-defense. Instead, there are fundamental principles of “common law” that will be applied to your case.
If you are lucky enough that everything just fell your way, you might get away with a brief investigation — and perhaps a court hearing — ending with no charges filed, which is the outcome we all hope to have. However, whenever a hearing judge, or a grand jury, is confronted with conflicting testimony, their default response is almost always to send the case to trial and thus “let the jury decide.”
At this point, prosecutors often try to get you to plead guilty to a lesser offense (e.g. misdemeanor simple assault rather than felony Assault with a Deadly Weapon). Depending on the circumstances, as well as your actions before, during, or even after the confrontation, your attorney may actually suggest that you “take the deal.”
Most of you, and especially followers of the USCCA, generally know (and practice) the fundamentals:
You are fully aware of your surroundings at all times. You do everything possible to avoid confrontations, especially particularly stupid things like road rage. You always look for a way out of a bad situation before it escalates to deadly force. You understand what to say, and not say, to police following an incident, especially if shots were fired. Finally, you have an attorney’s number programmed into your cell phone — and use it.
If you do go to trial, even if you’ve conformed religiously to the basic “common law” elements of self-defense, a zealous prosecutor will look for anything he or she can use to influence the jury. For example, since it is imperative that the jury see you as an innocent victim, prosecutors will try to convince the jury of the opposite — that you were a predator, and your attacker was the real victim. But you can win, especially if you avoid some common mistakes.
DO Sweat the Small Stuff
Your goal is to take away as many “tools” from the prosecution as possible. Thankfully, most of these are completely under your control, starting with your gun/ammo choice. Research shows conclusively that certain guns tilt a jury against the defendant.
This shouldn’t be surprising; after all, imagine a prosecutor holding up a nickel-plated, pearl-handled Desert Eagle (rather than a J-frame, Glock or XD). Stick with “standard” model pistols or revolvers; avoid anything that screams “Rambo” or “Jason Bourne” to the jury.
Same goes for ammo. In my carry classes, I recommend FACTORY ammunition from major manufacturers, clearly labeled “personal protection” or “defensive” on the box. NO handloads! And avoid “exotic” ammo — sorry, but ultra-high-velocity and/or fragmenting rounds are unlikely to be any more effective than good quality hollow-points, but a prosecutor will describe them as “cop-killer” bullets.
And watch your wardrobe! Having a jury see your T-shirt proclaiming, “Kill ‘em all! Let God sort ‘em out!” is not going to help your cause. Duh.
Finally, a warning about social media: Emails, Facebook postings and “Tweets” are all fair game. Before you hit send, imagine it being read to your (future) jury.
Be smart. Be safe.
