Dunno about GA law but as I understand current Alabama law you can use deadly force any time you feel you or your property is in danger as long as you are legally entitled to be where you are. This means you are under no obligation to retreat or try to flee and you can protect your life or that of anyone else or your property. Now I'm NOT a lawyer and DO NOT give legal advice but that is as I understand the recently new law passed in Bama as the Castle doctrine I believe it is called.
Here are a couple of links I found via Google on it:
http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060813/NEWS/608130380/1007/NEWS03Published Sunday, August 13, 2006
Critics say defense law will create vigilantes
Supporters say law gives residents power to protect themselves
By Jason Morton
Staff Writer
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While it is just a little more than two months old, a new Alabama law regarding a resident’s right to kill in self-defense is still generating strong opinions within the law enforcement community.
Dubbed the “castle law," it states that Alabama residents now have the right to stand their ground if threatened and use force, including deadly force, in certain situations.
In Tuscaloosa County, the district attorney and public defender worry that the Legislature’s relaxation of the self-defense restrictions could lead to vigilantism.
“The whole idea of having laws is to calm things down and try to preserve life, not have open season to take life," said District Attorney Tommy Smith.
But Alabama’s attorney general believes the law allows law-abiding residents to protect themselves while taking the legal upper hand away from the criminals.
“This bill was designed to take the scales of justice that were out of balance and tilted towards the criminal and give them back to citizens to protect themselves," said Attorney General Troy King. “I don’t think that’s vigilantism."
Changes to the law
Alabama law has always allowed residents to use force, including deadly force, to protect themselves in their homes or at work.
The new law, which took effect June 1, eliminates a provision that a resident, if threatened outside these two locations, must reasonably try to escape or flee before killing an attacker.
The change became a matter of discussion last month during the murder trial of Derrick Anthony White, when his defense attorney, Michael J. Upton, wanted to apply the new provisions to his client. Assistant District Attorney Lyn Durham argued that since White killed his victim before the law was passed, the old provisions should apply.
Tuscaloosa County Circuit Judge Steve Wilson ruled in favor of the prosecution, based partly on the fact that the law has no wording regarding its application retroactively.
Smith, who doesn’t like the change in the law, said the prosecution’s strategy wouldn’t have changed regardless of Wilson’s ruling.
But the judge’s decision allowed Durham to argue that White had a duty to run away. She also was permitted to ask him why he did not escape from the man he claimed came at him with a knife.
White testified that he tried to get away, but the jury convicted him of manslaughter, a reduction in the more serious murder charge.
In other states
In Florida, which was the first of 15 states to pass this kind of legislation, a case involving a cab driver who killed a drunken passenger is before the Florida Supreme Court regarding the retroactive application of the law.
The first jury deadlocked 9-to-3 in favor of convicting the driver, Robert Lee Smiley Jr. The foreman in Smiley’s case said Smiley had had several chances to escape his attacker.
Smiley tried to invoke the new law, which does away with the duty to retreat and would could have meant an acquittal, but an appeals court refused to apply it retroactively. The case is now being retried as the Florida Supreme Court determines whether the new law could apply.
The law had already come into play in Florida. A prostitute in Port Richey, who killed her 72-year-old client last month with his own gun rather than flee, was not charged. Similarly, police in Clearwater did not arrest a man who shot a neighbor in early June after the two argued, though the authorities say they are still reviewing the evidence.
Differing views
Tuscaloosa County Public Defender Bobby Wooldridge said he hasn’t had a case in which the new law would apply, but he would use it as a defense, even though he has mixed feelings about it.
“This is one more thing that makes us like the Wild West," Wooldridge said. “People can carry their guns around, get scared and start shooting. It’s one less thing that might guard against the use of deadly force.
“I’m certainly not in favor of it and I didn’t think it was a wise thing to pass."
Smith, who is often on the opposite side of legal arguments from Wooldridge, agreed.
“The fear here is that people will use the argument of 'I thought something was about to be done to me, so I shot,’ and 'I didn’t leave because I didn’t have to,’" Smith said. “That’s going to create situations that are just untenable. And that’s not just me talking, that’s every prosecutor and law enforcement officer anywhere."
Others share that view.
“In a way, it’s a license to kill," said Sarah Brady, chairwoman of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence to the New York Times. She pledged that her group would fight the efforts of the National Rifle Association, which threw its support behind the law I many states.
Paul A. Logli, president of the National District Attorneys Association, said he thinks relaxing the self-defense provisions are unnecessary at best and pernicious at worst.
“They’re basically giving citizens more rights to use deadly force than we give police officers, and with less review," Logli has said.
But King, who was a strong supporter of the bill while it worked its way through the Alabama Legislature, thinks such concerns are overblown.
“It’s outrageous to say to citizens that you have to try and run away before you have the chance to defend yourself," King said. “I don’t think it’s going to lead to these kinds of 'sky is falling’ predictions coming true, but I hope it sends a message that causes criminal to think twice before they climb in your windows at night or tries to pull someone out of their cars."
The Republican attorney general said he contacted Florida’s attorney general, Charlie Crist, about the concerns of the law’s opponents. He said Crist, who is running for the Republican nomination for governor, said Floridians were more secure knowing they stop criminals who try to hurt them.
“The people of Alabama shouldn’t be cowed by criminals. They should have the right to protect themselves," King said. “Criminals don’t have the obligation to run. Why should citizens?"
Any claims of self-defense aside, Tuscaloosa Police Chief Ken Swindle and Tuscaloosa County Sheriff Ted Sexton said any case involving injury or death would be investigated.
That, Sexton said, should alleviate concerns about nervous citizens’ trigger fingers.
“Probable cause is still going to have to be presented to show that they were in fear of their lives," Sexton said. “People are still going to be held responsible for their actions, cases are still going be investigated and cases are still going to be sent to grand juries."
Swindle said claims of self-defense would be examined individually to determine whether it was justified.
“I see it as giving our good citizens, who need the right to be protected under the law, the right to protect themselves," he said. “But as in any law, and in anything that can be abused, it’ll have to be looked at on a case-by-case basis.
“If a person is doing what they should be doing and following the law, they should be safe."
Material from The New York Times News Service was used in this report.
Reach Jason Morton at jason.morton@tuscaloosanews.com or 205-722-0200.
http://www.governorpress.state.al.us/pr/pr-2006-04-04-01-gun-law-photo.aspApril 04, 2006
Governor Riley Signs Self-Defense Gun Law
Governor Bob Riley signs the self-defense bill into law at the State Capitol as legislators watch. From left to right: Sen. Bradley Byrne, Rep. Albert Hall, Rep. Mike Hubbard, Rep. Scott Beason, Sen. Gary Tanner and Sen. Larry Means.
Listen to the Governor's comments
MONTGOMERY – Governor Bob Riley signed into law legislation that gives law-abiding citizens greater legal safeguards if they use a firearm to protect themselves against people breaking into their homes or vehicles.
The measure removes language from current law that says a resident should not use deadly force during a break-in if he or she can "avoid using force with complete safety."
“With this new law, the decision of crime victims who choose to protect themselves and their families won’t be second-guessed,” said Governor Riley. “When you feel your life or your family is in danger from an intruder, you should be able to practice self-defense and not worry if a judge or court is going to penalize you.”
Similar legislation has recently been adopted in Florida, Indiana and South Dakota.
The legislation passed the Alabama Legislature overwhelmingly by a vote of 82-9 in the House and 30-2 in the Senate.
Governor Riley’s remarks delivered at the bill signing ceremony can be downloaded from the “Audio” section of the Governor’s website at
www.governor.state.al.us 
