The answer depends on whether your actions were determined to be reasonable under the law.
Under Alabama law, you're not required to retreat. Since you have a legal right to be in your house, and assuming you're not the original aggressor and are law-abiding, you do have the right to take reasonable actions to defend yourself.
Your actions will be judged later by someone other than you, whether or not they were reasonable.
If your case is presented to the grand jury, then they will decide whether or not formally charging you with an assault or murder is appropriate under the circumstances.
If you are charged with a crime as a result of shooting a potential intruder, whether or not you acted in self-defense can be determined first by a judge in what is called a stand-your-ground hearing. If you and your lawyer decide to have a stand-your-ground hearing, the judge will determine if you were justified in self-defense. If the judge finds that you were acting appropriately, not only can the judge bar you from being prosecuted criminally, but you can also be protected from a civil lawsuit in which the victim or the victim's family is trying to get money due to your actions. You also have a right to present the self-defense argument before a jury, and a jury will decide if they think your actions are justifiable.
Of course, if the judge has already ruled that you are justified in your stand-your-ground hearing, you wouldn't need a trial.
Just because you can have a pretrial hearing before the judge to determine if you are justified, not all people choose to do so, one reason for this is because sometimes a matter of strategy it may be decided that it's better to save this issue to be raised in a jury trial alone. Of course, you would need to talk to your lawyer about this so that he and you can make the best decision based on your case's particular facts and circumstances.
If you can reasonably avoid shooting someone, that's the action you should take. Even if you prevail legally, you'll still have to deal with the potentially significant costs of defending a criminal case and perhaps a civil lawsuit against you. Unfortunately, in real life, people are often called upon to make a split-second life-or-death decision that lawyers and courts may ponder and argue about for years.
Of course, if you are unfortunate enough to find yourself in such a situation, you should contact a lawyer as quickly as you possibly can, preferably before you speak to anyone, especially law enforcement.
Call now for a free case evalution
