A Warning Shot about Self-Defense

Suppose John is facing a deadly assault and fears that he will be killed or suffer great bodily harm. John has a firearm but, rather than shoot his assailant, he fires a warning shot. The shot goes awry, strikes John’s assailant, and kills him. May John rely on self-defense if charged with murder? The answer may be surprising. John may not be able to rely on self-defense in this scenario. Under current North Carolina case law, his defense may be accident. Here’s why. Focusing on the intended result. Generally, a person may use deadly force—that is, force likely to cause death or great bodily harm—if reasonably necessary to save himself from death or great bodily harm. See, e.g., State v. Pearson, 288 N.C. 34 (1975). Thus, in the above scenario, John would have the right to shoot and even kill his assailant if he met the other requirements for self-defense (for example, John wasn’t the aggressor). One might assume from this principle that if faced with a deadly assault, a person could opt to use nondeadly force if the person thought that a lesser degree of force would be sufficient to end the threat. North Carolina decisions define nondeadly force as force neither intended nor likely to cause death or great bodily harm. See, e.g., State v. Pearson, 288 N.C. at 39. North Carolina decisions have also found that a warning shot may constitute nondeadly force. See State v. Whetstone, 212 N.C. App. 551, 558 n.4 (2011); State v. Polk, 29 [...]