SCENARIO ANSWER # 6

You are correct.  The reason being is that the person making the verbal attack, although he has committed a crime of simple assault and you can press charges against him, he did not make an OVERT move to make you think he was going to follow through with his threat.  Therefore, using deadly force in this instance would be an excessive use of force.  What would constitute an overt act in this case?  An obvious one is if he threatened your life then brandished a weapon in a threatening manner.  How about a verbal threat followed by clinched fists and an abrupt movement towards you?  Probably so, but it will end up being scrutinized during a police investigation.  Let's hope you are able to articulate the facts of what happened and let's hope the evidence produced at the scene confirms your actions and the actions of the assailant.  Bottom line, you'll need to articulate why you used deadly force.  Lets also not forget, in addition to everything else, the person with whom you used deadly force must be able to follow through with the threat.  For example, you get into a verbal altercation with a 90 year old lady in a walker.  She said she is going to beat you to death then lifts up her walker and comes towards you.  I think you'd have a hard time articulating you were fearful of your life unless you're another 90 year old with a walker...

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