Castle Doctrine Jury Instruction In Florida

In Weiand v. State, 732 So. 2d 1044, 1057 (Fla. 1999), this Court sua sponte adopted a "castle doctrine" jury instruction for use in criminal cases involving an attack by a co-occupant or invitee. The court made clear that this was an interim instruction, and specifically instructed the Committee on Standard Jury Instructions in Criminal Cases ("the committee") "to provide us with any recommendations as to the wording of the instruction." Id. at 1056 n.15. The committee in turn made some editorial changes to the instruction; published it for comment in the August 1, 1999, edition of the Florida Bar News; received no comments thereon; and has now submitted its proposed instruction for consideration by this Court. The court has jurisdiction. See art. V, 2(a), Fla. Const; see also Fla. R. Crim. P. 3.985.