Pa Castle Doctrine 1, Intruders 0

Slaying of attacker declared legitimate by officials

Wednesday, December 28, 2011
By Moriah Balingit, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Authorities announced Tuesday that a Somerset County man who shot and killed an armed rival in front of his Central City home will not be charged after they determined the freshly amended Castle Doctrine protected his right to shoot the man from his front porch.

Tony L. Bittinger, 43, of Salisbury, died almost instantly on the afternoon of Oct. 10 after being struck in the chest with an arrow.

The man behind the bow, a 38-year-old man whom police declined to identify, told police he fired on Mr. Bittinger after he came at him with a 32-inch wooden club.

State troopers said the spat stemmed from Mr. Bittinger's romantic involvement with the other man's wife.

Somerset County District Attorney Jerry Spangler said the case is the first in the county to test the controversial Castle Doctrine, which radically expanded a homeowner's right to use deadly force against an intruder. Though the man may have been cleared under the old law, "the new law makes it clearer," he said.

State police said Mr. Bittinger had called and threatened the man before. He became angry after the man's wife stopped returning his phone calls and left a voice mail on her phone saying that he was coming to "put a hole in [the man's] head."

Trooper Joseph Drzal said Mr. Bittinger, who had a blood alcohol content of 0.18 at the time he was shot, then drove 37 miles from his house in Salisbury to the man's home in the 7000 block of Lincoln Highway. There, state police said, the man told police he watched Mr. Bittinger get out of his car with the club and went back in the home to retrieve the bow and arrow.

In the heated exchange that ensued, the man told Mr. Bittinger numerous times to leave, but he refused, state police said. He came closer and headed up the stairs leading to the front porch. At that point, the man shot him in the chest, killing him almost instantly. An autopsy revealed the arrow, which penetrated 8 inches into the man's chest, entered at a downward angle, indicating Mr. Bittinger was headed up the steps when he was shot.

The new Castle Doctrine expands the areas where it is permissible for homeowners to use deadly force to include "any attached porch, deck or patio," according to the statute. The new law also eliminates a homeowner's obligation to retreat -- going inside and locking the door, for example -- before going on the offensive. In fact, Trooper Drzal said the man did retreat but then came back outside armed with the bow and arrow.

Under the previous law, deadly force could only be used in self defense if it was established that the person believed they were under threat of serious bodily harm, kidnapping or rape and if that belief was reasonable, Mr. Spangler said. But under the new law, anyone who has unlawfully entered a property is presumed to be such a threat and can be fired upon.

Since Mr. Bittinger was not permitted to be on the man's property, he was a presumed threat, Mr. Spangler said.