Woodbine homeowner won’t be charged in deadly shooting, Howard County prosecutors say

Homeowner won’t be charged in deadly shooting

A Woodbine man who shot and killed a man from Chantilly who was trying to enter his home will not be charged, the Howard County State’s Attorney’s office announced on Tuesday.

WOODBINE, Md. - A Woodbine man who shot and killed a man from Chantilly who was trying to enter his home will not be charged, the Howard County State’s Attorney’s office announced on Tuesday.

Investigators said in July, that they believed Gerardo Alberto Espinoza, 46, of Chantilly, was at the wrong home when he tried to enter the home of Charles Dorsey, 56.

Doorbell video showed Espinoza shouting expletives as he jostled the door handle.

In the video, he can be seen without a shirt on, and investigators say he had a high BAC level.

Prosecutors say Dorsey was acting in self-defense within his home.

They said he acted within The Castle Doctrine — a law in Maryland that outlines the rules governing self-defense.

“There’s an additional element in Maryland when altercations involving self-defense and use of deadly force occur in the public,” says Rich Gibson, Howard County’s State’s Attorney. “That is that in Maryland you are requiring individuals to retreat prior to utilizing that deadly force. However in the home that final element is not required. There’s no duty to retreat in one’s home in Maryland. That’s the Castle doctrine.”