00:00No duty to retreat in your own home. The ability to stand your ground and use lethal force if needs be.
00:08That's what a 10-closed stand-your-ground legislation provides for.
00:12Attorney at Law Kalina Maharaj outlines that there are parameters for the use of force against a home invader.
00:19When he or she reasonably believes force is being used against them or another person,
00:25reasonably believes his or her life or another is in imminent danger,
00:30believes that his or her actions are necessary for protection,
00:34uses force proportionate to the perceived threat.
00:38There are different conditions for when lethal force is used.
00:42The law does not provide us to become the wild, wild west.
00:45I don't want the law to be abused.
00:48So we need to keep that in mind.
00:50Keep in mind that the use of deadly force is only justified if the occupant reasonably believes it is necessary
00:58to prevent imminent death, grievous bodily harm, sexual assault or rape.
01:04Nadia Lambert-Britto, a victim of a home invasion, says it's not about a country becoming a wild, wild west.
01:11A gunman, she states, entered her bedroom in broad daylight.
01:14My partner was lying next to me, and at the spur of the moment, all I could have done was run.
01:25My grandmom ran straight out of the house.
01:29Because all I remember is seeing a man with a gun coming towards me.
01:33I lost my baby.
01:39My partner at the time struggled with the person, and the gun fell.
01:46She says police later recovered the firearm at her home and a piece of clothing.
01:51The police say they know exactly who the person was, because that person was accustomed.
01:57Wearing that rag with a fisherman hat on his head.
02:00Up to this day, nothing was done.
02:04The police never came back.
02:07My family never got counseling.
02:09To this day, I cannot sleep with my bedroom door closed.
02:13Open, sorry.
02:15From the moment someone touches me, from the moment my husband touches me, I can sleep when I jump up.
02:22One attorney, who is also a former chairman of the Greater Tunapuna Chamber of Industry and Commerce, says he was also a victim of a home invasion in April 2024 and was forced to retreat.
02:33Two MTS officers were passing at the time, coming off duty, and they assisted to apprehend the person.
02:45And then the police came and took the guy to Tunapuna Police Station.
02:51And then on Monday at lunchtime, that same man was robbing a little boy of his computer and his school bag in the Savannah here.
02:59He's calling for more serious penalties for kidnapping and extortion as well.
03:05Minister of Legal Affairs Saddam Hussein expresses confidence that the draft bill will become low.
03:11So if bandits enter your house tonight, don't tell them the bill is low yet.
03:16We will make it low.
03:17We will make it low.
03:19We have the majority.
03:20We have the majority in the lower House of Parliament, and we will convince the Senate that we require the majority upstairs in order to get this law passed.
03:37Alicia Boucher, TV6 News.
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