I don't know of anything that bars a civil suit in the event of a justified shooting in North Carolina. Given the "hug a thug" mentality of our general assembly (as evidenced by our extremely weak sentencing laws and massive overuse of probation for habitual criminals), I'd be very surprised if there were.
On the other hand, NC is still deeply entrenched in common law and its application, even going so far as to have criminal charges (like the infamous and often completely misunderstood "going armed to the terror of the people") for which there is no statutory language and therefore no real way for laypersons to look up what constitutes a violation. The "castle doctrine" upon which such laws are based in other more enlightened states is a common law concept. Obviously a statutory law offers more protection, but that doesn't mean that there is no protection in NC. There is, for instance, no requirement to retreat before using force inside one's home in NC. That is due to the common law castle doctrine. The only statutory law we have on the subject allows the use of deadly force to prevent an illegal forcible entry into one's home. In other words, you can shoot someone through the door while they are trying to force their way in, but if they get inside before they are shot, then the old common law requirement that they pose an imminent deadly threat has to exist before deadly force is justified. Makes sense huh?
I also heard that NC has a law stating that you can't be sued if the shoot is deemed legal? I am trying to find that law also. Any help would be apreciated.
