Court Opinion

ID: 9554070
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 19:41:00.614588+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T15:32:57.461149
License: Public Domain

Rose, J.,
concurring,
with whom Springer, J., agrees:
I agree with the majority that Instruction No. 17 may have been confusing to the jury and the instructions did not legally address the situation where a defendant is not in fact faced with actual or immediate danger, but reasonably believes that his or her assailant could kill him or her. But in considering the duty to retreat in the face of deadly force, I would require a non-aggressor to retreat if he or she could do so in complete safety. This differs somewhat from the majority’s position that a non-aggressor does not have to retreat, even though he or she could do so with complete safety, if a reasonable person in his or her position would believe that death or serious bodily harm is about to be inflicted upon him or her.
In Grimmett, this court held that a person has the right to stand his ground in the face of an attack with deadly force if it is necessary for him to do so to protect his own life. This case is generally consistent with the no duty to retreat rule adopted by the majority. However, other Nevada cases hold that it is proper to instruct the jury that a defendant has a duty to retreat in certain situations before using deadly force. State v. Helm, 66 Nev. 286, 309, 209 P.2d 187, 198 (1949). Therefore, the law in Nevada was certainly not clear as to a non-aggressor’s duty to retreat when faced with deadly force, and it is understandable that the district court was faced with a difficult task in stating the correct duty to retreat rule in the jury instructions.
Other states are divided on the issue of whether a defendant has a duty to retreát. The majority of jurisdictions hold that a defendant who was not the initial aggressor is not required to retreat before using deadly force against someone whom he reasonably believes is about to kill or seriously injure him. See Johnson v. State, 315 S.E.2d 871 (Ga. 1984); Haynes v. State, 451 So.2d 227 (Miss. 1984); People v. Gonzales, 12 P. 783 (Cal. 1887); see also, 2 W.LaFave & A. Scott, Criminal Law 461 (1986). A significant minority of states have adopted the rule that a defendant must retreat, if he can safely do so, when threatened with deadly force. See State v. Austin, 332 N.W.2d 21 (Minn. 1983); State v. Abbott, 174 A.2d 881 (N.J. 1961); State v. Davis, 51 S.E. 28 (S.C. 1948).
The following rationale justifies not requiring a defendant to retreat from an aggressor if he or she may do so in complete *491safety: (1) the State should not force a non-aggressor to act in a cowardly manner; (2) unjustified aggression should not be protected; and (3) it is too difficult for a jury to determine when it is safe for a defendant to retreat.
I disagree that it is cowardly to walk away safely from an attacker rather than to kill him or her, and the majority opinion agrees. Rather, I believe that:
A really honorable man, a man of truly refined and elevated feeling, would perhaps always regret the apparent cowardice of a retreat, but he would regret ten times more, after the excitement of the contest was past, the thought that he had the blood of a fellow-being on his hands.
J. Beale, Retreat From a Murderous Assault, 16 Harv. L.Rev. 567, 581 (1903) (emphasis added). The policy of saving one human life, even if it is that of an aggressor, outweighs the interest an individual might have in avoiding the appearance of cowardice.
The person who retreats can usually rely upon the state to punish the aggressor for his or her actions. A jury is required to make many difficult decisions and it is perfectly capable of determining whether a reasonable person should know that he or she could retreat without using deadly force.
Finally, self-defense is measured by necessity. There, is no necessity to use deadly force if a defendant may retreat in complete safety. See State v. Baker, 160 N.W.2d 240 (Minn. 1968).
For the preceding reasons, I believe the better rule would be that a person who has a reasonable belief that he or she is about to be killed or seriously injured has the duty to retreat, rather than use deadly force against his aggressor, if as a reasonable person he or she should know that a retreat can be made with complete safety. See Bartmess v. State, 708 S.W.2d 905, 907 (Tex.App. 1986). Whether a person should reasonably know that he or she can retreat with complete safety will be determined after examination of the totality of circumstances surrounding the attack, including but not limited to, the immediate excitement which is caused by the attack. As Justice Holmes stated, “[djetached reflection cannot be demanded in the presence of an uplifted knife.” Brown v. United States, 256 U.S. 335, 343 (1921).