When someone acts to protect themselves or their home, questions about arrest, the duty to retreat, and how far the law’s protection actually goes often overlap in confusing ways. Greg McCollum addresses three of those questions directly: what happens after a self-defense shooting, how stand your ground relates to self-defense, and what the castle doctrine actually allows when an intruder enters a home.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can You Be Arrested After a Self-Defense Shooting in South Carolina?
The Complete Legal Defense Team has dealt with that a lot. A lot of people are charged with shooting and self-defense, but they were arrested. It’s very interesting, outrageous really, because you have somebody who’s a law-abiding citizen.
They legally have the right to have a gun. They get a gun lawfully. They go through courses to learn how to handle the gun. They learn the law. They also learn self-defense law. And then they use the gun the way they should use it to protect themselves, and the next thing you know, they’re in handcuffs. They’re arrested. They’re charged with a major felony.
Stand Your Ground vs. Self-Defense: What’s the Difference?
It’s really the same thing. For centuries, everyone’s had the ability and the right to defend themselves. It just makes sense that the law is that if you’re being attacked, you have the right to defend yourself. Stand your ground is the same thing.
It just means that you don’t have the duty to retreat. If you’re being attacked, you have the right to stand your ground and don’t have to retreat. But all of this is self-defense. This all pertains to self-defense law in South Carolina.
Can You Always Shoot an Intruder Under the Castle Doctrine?
If you just read the law as it’s written, it says that an intruder in South Carolina, somebody breaking into your house, gives you the legal ability to shoot them. If someone is breaking into your house, the law presumes they are armed with deadly force. In other words, it presumes they have the present ability and the intent to harm or kill you.
Therefore, the law states you have the right to use deadly force against an intruder. In reality, police and prosecutors will evaluate the specific circumstances of the incident, and you will be judged based on those facts. While the law provides this presumption, the legal reality can be complex when authorities decide whether or not to arrest you.
Greg McCollum has practiced criminal defense in South Carolina for roughly 30 years, including time as a former prosecutor, and has handled these kinds of self-defense and firearms cases. That background shapes how the Complete Legal Defense Team approaches cases involving self-defense, stand your ground, and the castle doctrine.
If you have questions about a self-defense shooting, stand your ground, or the castle doctrine in South Carolina, call the Greg McCollum Complete Legal Defense Team at (843) 626-5480. Consultations are confidential.
