Donofrio repeatedly knocked, banged and kicked on the front door “while manipulating the door handle” while trying to enter the home.

Donofrio broke a glass window on the front door “and reached inside to manipulate the doorknob”

Yeah, that’s more than just trying to walk into the wrong house when you’re blackout drunk, so I can see why they would consider it justified. But that’s the word of the police, so we’ll see if a different story comes out later.

Ouch. Yep, that’s justifiable homicide

Not in my state. No deadly threat, no clear intent to commit a felony. Breaking in is not enough for precisely this reason: the person may have a mistaken claim of right.

Breaking and entering isn’t a felony in your state???, huh…

Only if done with criminal intent. You know, you’re allowed to break into your own house.

If you think it’s your house and it’s not, your mistaken claim of right negates the intent. You might assume your lock broke or something and your only intent is to get inside and take your drunk ass to sleep.

This is scenario where you wake up and find a trespasser asleep on your couch, you can’t just murder them, even if you can see evidence that they broke the window to get in.

There is no duty to retreat in the home, but deadly force is still only authorized to counter deadly force.

In places authorizing deadly force to repel a felonious entry, the intent to commit crimes once inside supplies the justification for force. You cannot know the intention from the mere fact that they are breaking in. That’s why you can’t blindly fire through the door at someone trying to break your door in.

If the person ignores commands to stop, ignores warnings, threatens you, says something like “this is a robbery,” or has a weapon, that’s a different story; there, it’s reasonable to infer their criminal intent.

What you’re saying flies in the face of mens rea. The person who’s state of mind is examined here is the homeowner. If they perceive their life is in danger they’re allowed to use force. In your state there may be a duty to retreat but even there there are exigent circumstances.

Good luck convincing a jury this guy knew the person who had just smashed his window and was trying to unlock the door from the outside wasn’t quite literally breaking and entering.