(01-11-2022, 03:07 PM)NewJagsCity Wrote: He was off duty, so do his rights as a citizen take precedence here over his duties as a law enforcement officer?  Is there any version of a 'Stand your ground' law active in NC as there is in FL?

Yes. 

As of December 1, 2011, citizens of North Carolina had the legal right to defend themselves with deadly force in their homes, vehicles and workplace without the “duty to retreat.” “Stand your ground laws” exist in at least 25 states in addition to Florida and North Carolina.


These laws, sometimes called “Make My Day” laws or “Shoot First, Ask Questions Later” laws cover the extent to which a person can legally go to defend himself or others and the exceptions that apply.

North Carolina stand your ground law is addressed in NCGS § 14-51.2 and § 14-51.3 and are summarized below:

A person is justified in the use of deadly force and does not have a duty to retreat in any place he or she has the lawful right to be if either of the following applies:

You reasonably believe that such force is necessary to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm to himself or herself or another; or You are in your home, vehicle or workplace and that the person against whom the defensive force was used was an unlawful intruder or was attempting to forcibly and unlawfully enter one of the above.

It's reasonable to assume if the man was beating on the windshield with a wiper he broke off of the truck the officer was within his right to legally defend himself. Since preliminary findings show the wiper was broken off and there is evidence of the windshield being damaged and the truck's black box didn't register any impact as it would had it hit the man, logic dictates the officer is cleared. We live in crazy times though.

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