Secret Warrants and Black Bag Jobs--Questions

[Dr. Evil]

> 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

Actually, now that I think about it, I think it is essentially
impossible for it to ever happen.  If it were to happen, it is almost
certain that either the breaking-and-entering team or the
suspect/homeowner or both would be injured or killed in the ensuing
firefight.  The FBI knows this.  Having agents injured is absolutely
unacceptable to them, and having suspects injured or killed is also a
highly undesirable outcome for them.  You can be sure that during the
break-in, they would have a team watching every approach to the house.
If somehow or other someone showed up to enter the house during this
time, and the FBI couldn't get him distracted in some way, they would
just flash their badges and arrest him before he went in.  Sure, their
investigation would be compromised (blown) and they would be very
unhappy about that, but the alternative is guaranteed to be
infinitely worse, so they would do it to cut their losses.  So no,
you will never walk in and surprise some FBI agents messing with your
computer.  Don't worry about it.

> 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?)

If a reasonable person found some intruders in his home, and they
yelled at him, "I'm an FBI agent!", and started drawing weapons (which
is what they would do), would it be reasonable for him to believe
them, and comply, or to disbelieve them, and shoot back?  He has less
than a second (less than the time it takes to say "FBI") to make this
decision, btw.  I guess that's the question, and we all have our
opinions about what the answer is, but ultimately the jury would have
to decide what is reasonable, and a lot of their decision would be
based on their judgement of the character of the shooter, and their
perception of how the FBI handled themselves.  Is the suspect a sleaze
with a history of violence, or is he a sober, reasonable, cool-headed
person with a clean record and documented training about what to do in
a self-defence situation?  Did the FBI make a plan that took every
possible precaution to prevent this from happening, and did they have
the right knowledge and equipment to complete the job quickly, or did
they go in without proper preparation?  The answer to those questions
might be the answer to the bigger question.  Looking at the bright
side of this, the FBI would take extreme precautions to make sure that
this situation never comes up, so don't worry about it.