SB184: Castle Doctrine receives second hearing

By Linda Walker

Sen. Steve Buehrer's anxiously awaited Castle Doctrine bill (SB184), introduced in June, received it's second hearing on Wednesday, December 5. This hearing was for proponent testimony only.

Castle Doctrine, sometimes referred to as Stand Your Ground legislation, will protect innocent crime victims by maintaining the presumption of their innocence should they be faced with the use of deadly force. It will also protect the crime victim from further civil liability should the criminal or his/her surviving family want to file a law suit against the victim at a future date.

Castle Doctrine is a common sense self-defense Bill that has been passed in over 20 states in the past 2 years with overwhelming bipartisan support from the various states Legislatures.

This week's hearing heard four individuals verbal testimony, and several written copies of testimony were submitted to the Senate Criminal Justice Committee for their review.

Click 'Read More' for the entire report.

Brent Greer, Secretary for the People's Rights Organization and author of The Ready Line blog, focused mainly on the civil liability aspect of this Bill. Brent said "The very idea that a crime victim, who took a last resort action when they feared for their life, must defend their actions in a civil lawsuit makes no sense. It is insulting. And it is expensive." Brent's full testimony may be read here.

The most compelling testimony for the day was from Ryan Cundiff of Canton. Ryan and his girlfriend were camping on family property on Sept. 17, 2001. For the second time in the same evening, they were accosted by the same criminal. The final time, the drunken criminal assaulted Ryan physically, and then knocked his girlfriend to the ground, battering her about her head with a paving brick and his fists. She begged for her life while begging Ryan to help her. Ryan is forced to shoot the assailant and to his horror, Ryan, the crime victim, was arrested and charged with felonious assault with gun specifications. He was thrown in jail with the common criminal, all for defending the life of himself and his girlfriend.

Ryan was acquitted NINE long months later. Ready to move on with his life, that all changed on the first anniversary date of the assault. He was slapped with a civil liability lawsuit against him by the criminal. This suit still is pending. Ryan stated that "by the time this case is over I have estimated I will have spent more than $45,000 in legal fees, years of hardship, loss of college education, countless hours in courtrooms, and many sleepless nights, not to mention a potentially catastrophic legal decision in the attackers favor. I am angry with my life. I could have graduated from graduate school this past year. Instead I clean out foreclosed houses. I can not own property or establish personal savings."

It is unfortunate for Ryan that Castle Doctrine was not in place 7 years ago. Because of a criminal, intent upon doing harm to him and his girlfriend, his life has changed forever. It's important to note, this nice young man was only 20 years old at the time of this devastating event. This clearly shows the necessity of the passage of Castle Doctrine.