imported post
mf - you need to supply more assumptions for your scenario.
Is the mugger armed with a deadly weapon? If it is only a knife, is he within 20 feet of you? If he has a gun, is it pointed at you or your wife? What did the mugger say or do to indicate he wanted your wife's purse?
How big is the mugger? How big are you? (Is there a large disparity in size, age, physical fitness?)
Are you with your wife who is holding the purse?
Have you been taken by surprise or were you able to grip your concealed spurless revolver in a coat pocket and can point it at the threat before you were accosted? (In other words you can shoot through your clothing and stop the threat.)
Do you feel that you were in imminent danger of losing life or limb?
Can you and your wifesimply drop the purse andrun away or are you trapped?
If you are OC'ing, has the mugger somehow not seen your pistol because your gunside is turned away from the mugger?
How much training have you had? Can you do a sidestep anddraw your pistol and put two rounds in the threat's center of mass or cranio-ocular cavity in less than two seconds?
I am not a lawyer, but if I had to shoot someone to defend myself, I would be mentally prepared to call 911 immediately if there were a lot of witnesses around, or quickly depart the area if there were no other witnesses. My second phone call would be to a lawyer to be prepared to defend myself from a wrongful death suit and/or criminal prosecution. You have the right to remain silent. If the police came after such a self-defense shooting, I would say that upon the advice of counsel, I do not have a statement to make at this time and then I would shut up because even the most innocuous statements (such as "I'm so sorry I had to kill this guy.") can be taken out of context and twisted by a prosecutor or tort attorney. Cross-racial shootings are notorious for these sort of legal problems for law-abiding gun owners who have to engage in deadly force.
If you are really interested in this subject, read anything written by Massad Ayoob and mail yourself a note that you read such and such books on X Date. Thus you will have proof of knowledge of certain tenets of self-defense shootings such as the 21-foot rule for knifemen. (A physically fit man with a knife can cover 21 feet and stab you to death in less than two seconds. Two seconds is the average time it takes to draw and fire two shots. So if someone threatens to stab you, has a knife in their hand, andis in decent physical condition and less than 7 yards away, deadly force is justified to neutralize this deadly threat.)
See article by Massad Ayoob
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3197/is_n10_v36/ai_11549909
Explaining the deadly force decision: the opportunity factor
Anyway, best wishes to you and hope you never have to engage in death battle with a mugger or home invader.