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Old 05-22-2011, 09:04 PM
jkc jkc is offline
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Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Mesa, AZ
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I believe it was Mark Moritz who proposed amending AZ law so that persons protected by an order of protection would have an affirmative defense against a homicide charge, if the order was violated, e.g., if the abuser violated the order's terms, such as "shall not come within 100 yards of the ("protectee")", the protectee could use deadly force with immunity from prosecution, or, said another way, that violating any aspect of the order would be prima facie evidence of murderous intent, and justify killing the offender.

Of course, not many victims would be willing or able to take advantage of this, but it strikes me as sound policy. I was once summoned to protective duty by a relative involved in a domestic violence situation. Once the boyfriend was served, his very next action was to violate the order by approaching one of her children, completely ignoring the order's prohibitions. This became a tactical nightmare, with clueless family members unable to comprehend even the rudiments of perimeter security and defensive strategies and tactics, a story for another thread...
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