Appeals court probes whether Second Amendment bars duty to retreat from cohabitant in home

Justice Rubin convened the session and opened argument in Commonwealth v. Tehachdil, a challenge to a jury instruction that the defendant had a duty to retreat before using deadly force in self‑defense.

Defense attorney Jessica LeClaire told the three‑justice panel that Bruen, Heller and McDonald make clear the Second Amendment protects self‑defense in the home and therefore precludes a rule requiring a person to flee from a cohabitant before using force. "At the time of the founding what the universal rule was, there's no duty to retreat in one's home," LeClaire said, citing People v. Tomlin and federal decisions she described as surveying the common law.

T…