A man wearing a skin-tight leotard is obviously unarmed.
He opens your unlocked window and climbs into your unoccupied house.
You arrive home and, still in your yard, you notice the window open. You are still outside, looking in.
You go to the window and look into your bedroom and see him rummaging through your wife's jewelry box.
"HEY, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" you challenge.
"I'm stealing jewelry." He replies. "I'm a burglar, can't you tell?"
"STOP. I'M AN ARMED CITIZEN, AND I WILL USE DEADLY FORCE TO PROTECT MY HOME!"
The burglar retorts "Consume feces and expire! I've taken this big diamond necklace, and now that my mission is successful, I will leave. I'm too fast for you to catch me, and you can't shoot me!"
You say: "YOU'RE A DUMBASS EXCUSE OF A JEWELRY THIEF, TOO. THAT'S COSTUME JEWELRY. CUBIT ZIRCONIA. WORTH SEVENTY-FIVE BUCKS, TOPS!"
He says: "Well, I like it, and my sweetie will love it. Bye!"
With that, he opens the window on the opposite side of the room, farthest from you, and begins to step through it.
If he gets out that window before you can run around half of the perimeter of your house, ---and he almost certainly can because it's a long way around--- he will easily be able to escape in the thick woods bordering your property on that side.
Can you shoot him?
Legally, I mean.
Would shooting him to stop him at this point be legal under the castle doctrine / defense of habitation law, Code section 16-3-23?
He opens your unlocked window and climbs into your unoccupied house.
You arrive home and, still in your yard, you notice the window open. You are still outside, looking in.
You go to the window and look into your bedroom and see him rummaging through your wife's jewelry box.
"HEY, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" you challenge.
"I'm stealing jewelry." He replies. "I'm a burglar, can't you tell?"
"STOP. I'M AN ARMED CITIZEN, AND I WILL USE DEADLY FORCE TO PROTECT MY HOME!"
The burglar retorts "Consume feces and expire! I've taken this big diamond necklace, and now that my mission is successful, I will leave. I'm too fast for you to catch me, and you can't shoot me!"
You say: "YOU'RE A DUMBASS EXCUSE OF A JEWELRY THIEF, TOO. THAT'S COSTUME JEWELRY. CUBIT ZIRCONIA. WORTH SEVENTY-FIVE BUCKS, TOPS!"
He says: "Well, I like it, and my sweetie will love it. Bye!"
With that, he opens the window on the opposite side of the room, farthest from you, and begins to step through it.
If he gets out that window before you can run around half of the perimeter of your house, ---and he almost certainly can because it's a long way around--- he will easily be able to escape in the thick woods bordering your property on that side.
Can you shoot him?
Legally, I mean.
Would shooting him to stop him at this point be legal under the castle doctrine / defense of habitation law, Code section 16-3-23?