I came across an interesting article today:
As usual, the media seems to get the legal terminology a little bit wrong. “Stand your ground” law best refers to “no duty to retreat,” which is in Sections C and D of LA R.S. 14:19 and 14:20, respectively. All that says is that the jury is not allowed to consider the possibility of a peaceful retreat as a factor in whether or not you acted in self-defense (if you were not engaged in unlawful activity yourself at the time of the shooting). Prior to this, the possibility of a peaceful retreat was a factor which was traditionally considered by the courts (though there was still no unqualified duty to retreat).
The problem faced by the shooter in this case is that there were plenty of factors that were against him without even having to consider the duty to retreat, so whether or not the duty to retreat was considered was almost certainly not the deciding factor. In this case, while deadly force was certainly justified while the robber was in his house actively robbing his family, by the time the robber was fleeing in his car there was no longer a threat. Further, since both the robber and the shooter were outside of the dwelling at the time of the shooting, the presumptions that the force was necessary were no longer present under 14:19(B).
It is strange that he (almost certainly) would have been lawfully allowed to kill this guy during most of the encounter, but he didn’t actually shoot until the threat had ended. It is hard to blame the shooter, considering what his state of mind must have been at the time, but it is an important lesson nonetheless. Once there is no longer a threat, the use of force is no longer justified. This is why regular mental/legal training is important – you will not have time to think hard about the circumstances when you are in the heat of the moment and will default to your internalized training.