HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.B. NO.	1790
THIRTIETH LEGISLATURE, 2020
STATE OF HAWAII

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

 

relating to the use of deadly force.

 

 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

 

     SECTION 1.  The purpose of this Act is to amend the law relating to the use of deadly force to clarify that in certain circumstances, a person using deadly force has no duty to retreat and has the right to stand the person's ground.

     SECTION 2.  Section 703-304, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

     "§703-304  Use of force in self-protection.  (1)  Subject to the provisions of this section and of section 703-308, the use of force upon or toward another person is justifiable when the actor believes that such force is immediately necessary for the purpose of protecting [himself] the actor against the use of unlawful force by the other person on the present occasion.

     (2)  The use of deadly force is justifiable under this section if the actor believes that deadly force is necessary to protect [himself] the actor against death, serious bodily injury, kidnapping, rape, or forcible sodomy.  An actor who uses deadly force in accordance with this subsection does not have a duty to retreat and has the right to stand the actor's ground if the actor using the deadly force is not engaged in criminal activity and is in a place where the actor has a right to be.

     (3)  Except as otherwise provided in subsections (4) and (5) of this section, a person employing protective force may estimate the necessity thereof under the circumstances as [he] the person believes them to be when the force is used without retreating, surrendering possession, doing any other act which [he] the person has no legal duty to do, or abstaining from any lawful action.

     (4)  The use of force is not justifiable under this section:

     (a)  To resist an arrest which the actor knows is being made by a law enforcement officer, although the arrest is unlawful; or

     (b)  To resist force used by the occupier or possessor of property or by another person on [his] the occupier or possessor's behalf, where the actor knows that the person using the force is doing so under a claim of right to protect the property, except that this limitation shall not apply if:

          (i)  The actor is a public officer acting in the performance of [his] the public officer's duties or a person lawfully assisting [him] the public officer therein or a person making or assisting in a lawful arrest; or

         (ii)  The actor believes that [such] the force is necessary to protect [himself] the actor against death or serious bodily injury.

     (5)  The use of deadly force is not justifiable under this section if:

     (a)  The actor, with the intent of causing death or serious bodily injury, provoked the use of force against [himself] the actor in the same encounter; or

     (b)  The actor knows that [he] the actor can avoid the necessity of using [such] deadly force with complete safety [by retreating or] by surrendering possession of a thing to a person asserting a claim of right thereto or by complying with a demand that [he] the actor abstain from any action [which he] that the actor has no duty to take[, except that:

          (i)  The actor is not obliged to retreat from his dwelling or place of work, unless he was the initial aggressor or is assailed in his place of work by another person whose place of work the actor knows it to be; and

         (ii)  A]; provided that a public officer justified in using force in the performance of [his] the public officer's duties, or a person justified in using force in [his] assistance of a public officer or a person justified in using force in making an arrest or preventing an escape, is not obliged to desist from efforts to perform [his] the person's duty, effect the arrest, or prevent the escape because of resistance or threatened resistance by or on behalf of the person against whom the action is directed.

     (6)  The justification afforded by this section extends to the use of confinement as protective force only if the actor takes all reasonable measures to terminate the confinement as soon as [he] the actor knows that [he] the actor safely can, unless the person confined has been arrested on a charge of crime."

     SECTION 3.  This Act does not affect rights and duties that matured, penalties that were incurred, and proceedings that were begun before its effective date.

     SECTION 4.  Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken.  New statutory material is underscored.

     SECTION 5.  This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

 

INTRODUCED BY:	_____________________________

 

 

Report Title:

Self-Defense; Deadly Force; No Duty to Retreat; "Stand Your Ground" Law

 

Description:

Amends the law relating to the use of deadly force to clarify that in certain circumstances, a person using deadly force has no duty to retreat and has the right to stand the person's ground.

 

 

 

The summary description of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.