CCW Safe is now running a series on “Window of Justification”.
Gary Eastridge, Critical Response Coordinator for CCW Safe, describes a “window of justification” that opens and closes in self-defense scenarios. The window opens when someone encounters an imminent threat of death or great bodily harm, and the window closes as soon as the threat is no longer imminent. Don West, CCW Safe National Trial Counsel and veteran criminal defense attorney, says “It’s a clearly defined window in the law. If you shoot too soon or too late, regardless of how imminent that threat was at one point in time, you’ve gone outside the parameters of the law.”
Did the CCW holder act when the suspects’ vehicle was deadly threat (60 mph) or a perception that there would be a deadly threat? Will the CCW holder be able to justify his actions before a judge?