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Dawkins v. State

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Dawkins v. State, 252 P.3d 214 (Okla. 2011), is a legal case involving limitations on the right of self-defense and stand-your-ground laws.[1] The court determined that stand your ground laws do not justify use of deadly force, if defendant is engaged in other unlawful activity at the time. The case involved a defendant with a right to lawfully protect where he stood, but who used an illegal weapon with deadly force to stand his ground.

The court wrote:

"[T]he 'stand your ground' law... provide[s] that a person has a right to expect absolute safety in a place they have a right to be, and may use deadly force to repel an intruder... for a person to be justified in using deadly force, the person must not be 'engaged in unlawful activity".[2]

References

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  1. ^ Criminal Law Materials and References, 7th ed. 2012; John Kaplan, Robert Weisberg, Guyora Binder
  2. ^ Dawkins v. State, 252 P.3d 214 (OK CR 1 2011).