In perhaps the first civil Castle Doctrine case in Wisconsin, Weiss Law Office, S.C. prevailed for its clients, the defendants in the case.
At 2:00 a.m. on March 3, 2012, WLO’s client was confronted with an unknown intruder in his home. When he was confronted by the intruder, the client told the intruder not to move. Yet, the intruder, without disclosing his identity or purpose, advanced towards the client. The client, exercising his right of self-defense, used his pistol to fire a single shot at the intruder. Tragically, the intruder died.
The parties stipulated that WLO’s client had met all the requirements of Wisconsin’s Castle Doctrine Statute, Wis. Stat. §895.62, except one. The disputed issue in the case was whether the intruder’s act of opening two closed but unlocked doors was “forcible” under the statute. WLO argued that under common law, (citing Blackstone), the breaking and entering law of other states, and federal search and seizure law, the force necessary to open a closed but unlocked door sufficed to meet the statute’s requirement of a “forcible” entry.
The Trial Court agreed with WLO’s position. It dismissed the Plaintiffs’ case. No appeal was taken the Plaintiffs.