Published: March 23, 2009 11:21 pm      

‘Deadly force’ laws complex

Cambria County District Attorney Patrick Kiniry warned Monday that home owners and apartment-dwellers could end up facing criminal charges if they decide to use “deadly force” – firing a gun – at an intruder without legal justification.

On Sunday evening, Andrew Herdman of Johns-town’s West End shot and killed a man outside his apartment door who apparently had been attempting to enter the residence.

If the deadly force is justified, apparently no charges would be filed.

Herdman was inside his apartment when he shot the handgun, while the victim, David Edward Turner, stood outside the door on a porch.

It was the second time in five weeks in which a Johnstown resident fired a gun relating to a burglary.

In the first incident, Earl Rexford Carnahan of Hornerstown is facing trial in county court on a charge that he recklessly endangered a police officer while shooting at a suspect who had attempted to enter his home.

Carnahan allegedly fired while standing outside his home in an alley, narrowly missing a policeman who was chasing the fleeing suspect. Carnahan reportedly fired two other shots while still inside his house at the suspect, but no criminal charges were filed on those.

Kiniry said, “People have to be careful of what they do because their actions (in deadly force) are governed by a complex section of the crimes code – whether it’s in self-defense, in the defense of others or in the defense of property.”

He urged people to “use common sense, and don’t take action that places you in the criminal justice system.”

While there is a long tradition of people being able to defend their “castles” – their homes – from intruders, one criminal defense lawyer has warned that Johnstown is not the Wild West where people could shoot indiscriminately.