In the state of Maryland, the right of self-defense is primarily governed by case law and jury instructions. At present, the topic of self-defense is not explicitly covered by statute.
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By common law, some self defense in Maryland requires duty-to-retreat. Maryland at present, has no "Castle Doctrine" exception set down in statutory law per se, [1] but does have case law indicating duty to retreat does not apply when attacked in one's home. Other exceptions to duty to retreat are being the victim of a robbery, situations where the imminent peril of attack makes retreat impossible or retreat would not remove the danger (i.e. a physically injured or disabled person trying to flee from an able-bodied attacker). See Marquardt v. State, 164 Md. App. 95, 140 (2005). See also Sydnor v. State, 365 Md. 205, 216, A.2d 669, 675 (2001).
The duty-to-retreat criteria can be met under two different circumstances. And, in both circumstances, the actions must be considered against the actions of a reasonable person in the same situation.
The first circumstance can be met when the individual is in a location where retreat is possible. It is met when the individual does, in fact, retreat but retreats to a location where they can safely retreat no further. Thus the situation results in some type of self defense.
The second circumstance can be met when the individual is in a location where retreat is not possible. This is a location where the individual has no known avenues of safe retreat. The issue of whether the avenues do exist are irrelevant, as long as the individual is unaware of their existence. Also, the avenue must always be an avenue of safe retreat.
If the duty-to-retreat criteria is met, then the following self defense criteria are examined, as contained within the Maryland Criminal Pattern Jury Instruction. Optional or alternate inclusions into the jury instruction are enclosed with < >. Phrases surrounded with () are substituted with specific instances of the case.
Self-defense is a defense, and the defendant must be found not guilty if all of the following three factors are present:
<Deadly-force is that amount of force reasonably calculated to cause death or serious bodily harm. If the defendant is found to have used deadly-force, it must be decided whether the use of deadly-force was reasonable. Deadly-force is reasonable if the defendant actually had a reasonable belief that the aggressor's force was or would be deadly and that the defendant needed a deadly-force response.>
<In addition, before using deadly-force, the defendant is required to make all reasonable effort to retreat. The defendant does not have to retreat if the defendant was in <his> <her> home, retreat was unsafe, the avenue of retreat was unknown to the defendant, the defendant was being robbed, the defendant was lawfully arresting the victim. If the defendant was found to have not used deadly-force, then the defendant had no duty to retreat.>
Defense of others is a defense, and the defendant must be found not guilty if all of the following four factors are present:
Defense of one's home is a defense, and the defendant must be found not guilty if all of the following three factors are present:
Defense of property is a defense, and the defendant must be found not guilty if all of the following three factors are present:
<A person may not use deadly force to defend <his> <her> property. Deadly force is that amount of force reasonably calculated to cause death or serious bodily harm.>
While the use of force in self-defense may be justifiable, the person defending themselves still runs the risk of being sued by the attacker for monetary damages. To remedy this, in May 2010 the governor of Maryland signed a "civil immunity" bill into law that protects citizens from this liability.[2] Under this statute, a person who uses reasonable force (including deadly force) to repel an attack by an individual who has entered their home or place of business is not liable for damages arising from personal injury or death of the attacker. This law requires that the person defending themselves not have been convicted of a crime as a result of the force they used. It also provides for the court to award the defender's court costs and attorney's fees if win a lawsuit under this law.[3]