Ohioans now are protected by the “Stand Your Ground” self-defense law which took effect Tuesday.
The new law removes the “duty to retreat,” which means now to claim self-defense, the person does not have to leave the situation before using deadly force – which in the old law, people needed to voice their intent to escape the situation.
Now under the new law, as long as someone is in a legal place, there is not duty to retreat.
“The person who is attacked, without fault of his own, may use deadly force only if he
reasonably and honestly believed that deadly force was necessary to prevent serious bodily harm or death. If the person does not have this belief, he should not use deadly force. Again, if it does not put your life or the life of others in danger, you should withdraw from the confrontation if it is safe for you to do so,” read an excerpt about the new law in Ohio Concealed Carry Laws Manual.
To use force in a self-defense situation, the person must be able to prove they were not the instigator of the incident and they were at no fault of their own to use force.
The new law only allows that fatal force be used if the person believes they are in jeopardy of serious bodily harm or even death.