Introduction
The La Sierra members were not entitled to assert a defense of self-defense. The self-defense doctrine is only available when an individual reasonably believes that they are in imminent danger of severe bodily injury or death and that using deadly force is necessary to prevent that harm (Muñoz 2021).
Discussion
In this case, the La Sierra members went looking for the Tiny Winos intending to confront them. This does not meet the stipulated legal requirements for self-defense (People v. Ramirez, 2015). La Sierra gang members were not acting in self-defense and the trial court judge rejected the defense of self-defense asserted for this reason (O’Meara, 2022). Therefore, the prosecutor handling the case did not do anything wrong. The trial court found that the members of La Sierra had no justification for using force because they were not in imminent danger of death or serious bodily injury.
The court also found that the members of La Sierra had no right to use deadly force because they did not reasonably believe they needed to use such power to protect themselves. O’Meara (2022) states that the stand-your-ground law is a law that allows people to use force in self-defense without having to retreat first. This law exists in many states in the United States. For the stand-your-ground law to apply, the person must reasonably believe they are in danger of being harmed or killed (Muñoz 2021). In this case, the members of La Sierra were not in danger and were not acting in self-defense.
Conclusion
Therefore, the stand-your-ground law would not apply, and they could not use it as a defense. Defense of self-defense can only be applied when a person acts in self-defense. On the other hand, a co-worker’s security gets safeguarded if that person is actively taking steps to prevent harm to that individual.
References
Muñoz Conde, F. (2021). About putative self-defense. In K. Ghanayim & Y. Shany (Eds.), The quest for core values in the application of legal norms (pp. 185-199). Springer, Cham. Web.
O’Meara, C. (2022). Reconceptualizing the right of self-defense against ‘imminent’ armed attacks. Journal on the Use of Force and International Law, 1-46. Web.
People v. Ramirez, 233 Cal. App. 4th 940 (Cal. App. 2015). Web.