Bill would broaden protection rights in homeby KATE KELLY
If a 15-year-old intruder had been armed when Robert Locke found him in the bushes outside his Wasilla home Aug. 7, the boy would probably be dead today.
And Locke, the owner of Sharpshooters Gun and Pawn in Palmer, might have been facing jail or a wrongful-death suit filed by the boy's family if that had happened.
That's why Locke supports new legislation drafted by Rep. Carl Gatto, R-Palmer, known as the "Defense of Self" bill. If passed, the bill would protect homeowners or legal occupants from being sued if they kill someone they felt was threatening their life, property, or family.
"If that kid would have been armed I wouldn't have hesitated for a minute to eliminate him," said Locke, who found the boy leaving his property with a pocketful of his wife's jewelry, cash and pain medicine when he drove into his driveway late that Sunday night. "I'm just glad it was me and not my wife who came home. She would have shot and killed all three of them and let the dogs chew on their bones."
Instead, Locke held the boy at gunpoint on the ground until police arrived, causing the boy to wet his pants, he said. The boy and two other buddies were charged with first-degree burglary and second-degree theft when it was discovered they had stolen a laptop computer and the jewelry, medicine and cash from Locke's home.
A Palmer grand jury last Thursday indicted the oldest of the youths, 18-year-old Michael W. Goerdt, on a charge of second-degree theft.
Although state law allows homeowners to use deadly force to protect themselves and family from intruders, it doesn't give them immunity from civil liability. Gatto's bill, modeled after similar legislation in Florida and Colorado, would prevent people from being taken to court by the family of a deceased intruder.
Gatto, a former high school science teacher and Anchorage firefighter, said Wednesday he knows firsthand what it's like to be a victim and that this bill has been in the back of his mind for quite some time.
Not only was Gatto's New York City apartment broken into three different times by a drug addict he'd once befriended and his mother mugged on the streets of New York more than once, but a few years ago he and his family discovered their Valley home was being used for teen parties while they'd been out of town for a week.
"We knew some of them. My daughter had entrusted one with the code to our garage," Gatto said. "But I told them they'd have to go through me if they were going to try to leave. For me it was such a personal issue."
Gatto said that if they had chosen to fight him, he's not sure what would have happened since they were more than 40 years younger than he was and he did not have a firearm. If he ended up hurting one of them, however, he's sure he would have had to pay for it.
The draft legislation, which will be introduced in legislative committees in January, would not allow a citizen to use deadly force against a peace officer engaged in official duties. It would, however, protect someone who believes the use of deadly force is necessary for self defense against death, serious physical injury, kidnapping, second-degree sexual assault, first-degree sexual abuse of a minor, and robbery in any degree.
The bill would allow more leeway to the provision in the law that encourages homeowners to retreat from the intruder if they know with certainty that they can be safe that way. The bill also adds wording to the original law to exempt someone from the duty to retreat if they are in a place where they have the right to be, such as in their own home.
In addition, a new subsection to state law would be added to allow someone in a motor vehicle to use deadly force upon another during a carjacking, as well as allow someone outside a vehicle to use deadly force against someone believed to be stealing the vehicle while someone else is inside it.
That last provision concerns Palmer Police Chief George Boatright.
"There could be a well-intended party walking down the street who comes upon what looks like a car theft or carjacking and ends up smokin' someone who turns out to be a kid just trying to take his dad's car out for a joyride," Boatright said Wednesday. "Innocent people could get hurt."
Other than that, Boatright said he doesn't have a problem with the bill.
Alaska State Trooper Lt. Rick Roberts expressed similar reservations about giving people too much room for mistakes.
"We teach troopers that a life should only be taken to preserve life," Roberts said Tuesday. "The dilemma comes when you're not certain of others' intentions and that could be a dangerous situation for someone not trained to deal with that type of scenario."
Gatto, however, believes most Alaskans would support the bill, which is quite similar to two Senate bills, SB200 and SB201, already introduced on that side by Sens. Gene Therriault, R-Fairbanks-North Pole, and Fred Dyson, R-Chugiak-Eagle River.
"When I brought up my idea at a large Chamber of Commerce meeting, I got a resounding applause," Gatto said, adding that he believes the passage of such a bill would act as a deterrent for criminals. "My guess is, it's pretty popular because you never get resounding applauses - ever."
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