Quote History Quoted:
I've read that our case law is better than castle doctrine. The how or why never really sunk in.
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It is in nearly every aspect that matters, and I'm strongly opposed to dickering around with even well-intentioned legislation for fear of screwing it up. VCDL seems to have figured this out as well.
Virginia follows the common law principle that if you had no part in causing or contributing to the altercation, then you have no duty to retreat before using deadly force, ANYWHERE IN THE COMMONWEALTH. In your home, on the sidewalk, at the grocery store ... doesn't matter. In other words, we have the "castle doctrine" here and the entire state is the "castle."
If you did somehow contribute to the altercation (i.e., you're not totally innocent and you may have some of the blame for instigating it) then you must retreat and thereby break contact, evidencing your intent to withdraw from the fight, before you can be excused for resorting to deadly force.