Tim wrote:
2) What happens in these breaking-and-entering raids if the homeowner surprises the burglar and kills him? Is a homeowner supposed to somehow know that the person sneaking around his home has a secret warrant signed by a secret judge in a secret courtroom?
I agree with Dr. Evil about the unlikelihood of it ever happening, but if it did, I think the intruder is toast. In California, there is the presumption that anyone in your house (at least after dark, though I'd have to research that) is there with the intent of causing death or great bodily harm. He doesn't have to do anything overt like raise a crowbar. So you can just shoot first and ask questions later. Having said that, that is a rebutable presumption. If it can be shown that you believed or had reason to believe the intruder was, in fact, some flavor of cop, you cannot rely on the fear-of-death-or-great-bodily-harm presumption. For example, if he raised his hands and you heard him say, "Don't shoot, I'm an FBI agent," you might lose the benefit of the presumption. (You DID hear him say it, right?) In any event, someone will probably back-shoot you then or later, so the legal aspects may be academic. When the federal government can burn to death over 80 innocent Americans (22 of them children) in broad daylight on national television and skate, I don't think there is much they can do and not get away with it. S a n d y