California Self-defense Law - When can I legally use force? (2024)

If you reasonably believe that someone is about to attack you, another person, or your property, California’s self-defense law allows you to use enough force to prevent the harm. If the court finds that a reasonable person in your position would have fought back the same way, your criminal charges should be dismissed.

Here are five key things to know:

1. The force you use must match the level of threatened danger.
2. The danger does not need to have been real as long as your belief was reasonable.
3. You can use deadly force only if you reasonably fear great bodily injury or death.
4. California is a stand-your-ground state, so there is no duty to retreat from a fight.
5. California’s Castle Doctrine lets you use deadly force against an intruder who breaks into your home.

Self-defense serves as a legal defense tomany criminal offenses, including:

• murder (PC 187) or manslaughter (PC 192),
• mayhem (PC 203),
• domestic battery (PC 243(e)(1)),
• assault with a deadly weapon (PC 245(a)(1)), and
• simple battery (PC 242) or simple assault (PC 240).

Our California criminal defense attorneys will answer the following frequently asked questions about our state’sself-defense laws.

• 1. “Self-defense” Defined
• 2. Defense of Others
• 3. Defense of Property
• 4. The Castle Doctrine
• 5. Can I use deadly force?
• 6. Self-defense Applied to Specific Crimes
• Additional Resources

1. “Self-defense” Defined

You legally acted in self-defense under California state law if the following “elements” of the jury instructions are true:

1. you reasonably believed that you were in “imminent danger” of suffering bodily injury,¹and
2. you reasonably believed that the immediate use of force was necessaryto defend against that reasonable fear of imminent peril,² and
3. you used no more forcethan wasreasonably necessaryto defend against that danger.³

Since California is a “stand your ground state,” you do not have to retreat in order to lawfully claim self-defense – even if you had a means of escape.

If you started the fight (you were the “aggressor”), you can assert self-defense only if:

• you made a good faith effort to stop fightingand indicated this to the other person, or
• you initially attacked with non-deadly force, and the other person responded with deadly force.⁴

Proving Self-defense

In California, you never have to prove you acted in self-defense. Instead, once you claim to the court that you acted in self-defense, the prosecution bears the burden to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that you did not act in self-defense.⁵

Self-defense as an “Affirmative Defense”

Most defenses require you denying that you committed a crime, but self-defense is different.

Self-defense is considered an “affirmative defense.” This means that you are admitting you broke the law (by inflicting physical force on someone), but your actions were justifiableunder the circ*mstances.

2. Defense of Others

California law also allows you to fight back to protect someone else other than yourself if:

1. you reasonably believed that the other person was in imminent danger,
2. you reasonably believed you needed to use force to prevent the danger, and
3. you used no moreforce than necessary.⁶

3. Defense of Property

In addition to protecting yourself and others, you are allowed in California to fight back to protect your property if:

1. there was animminent threat of harm to your property, and
2. you used reasonable force to defend your property.⁷

4. The Castle Doctrine

Under California’s Castle Doctrine, there isno duty to retreat from an intruder in your home. You can confront them and chase them away.

The Castle Doctrine even allows you to use deadly force inside your home when an intruder uses force to break in. This is because underPenal Code 198.5 PC, you are presumed to have a reasonable fear of imminent harm when someone breaks into your home. Therefore, committing homicide against the intruder is justified and excusable.⁸

5. Can I use deadly force?

In California, you are legally justified in using deadly force in self-defense under certain circ*mstances:

1. you reasonably believed that you, or someone else, was in imminent danger of being killed, suffering great bodily injury, or being the victim of a forcible and atrocious crime, and
2. you reasonably believed that you needed to use deadly force to prevent the danger from happening, and
3. you used no more force than was reasonably necessary to keep the harm from occurring.⁹

Note that you can use deadly force in self-defense even if you were the original aggressor. This is provided you tried (but ultimately failed) to end the fight.¹⁰

As discussed in the previous section, you can also use deadly force when an intruder breaks into your home (“the castle doctrine”).

Can police use deadly force?

Yes, but only if deadly force is necessary. Courts consider not only the officer’s actions but also the victim’s actions before the deadly blow. If police kill unnecessarily, they can face criminal charges.¹¹

6. Self-defense Applied to Specific Crimes

Battery, Penal Code 242 PC

Batteryis theunlawful touchingof another person. California’s self-defense laws allow you to act in self-defense of a battery if you believe you are in imminent danger, even if you do not fear imminent bodily harm.¹²

Resisting Arrest, Penal Code 148 PC

Resisting arrest is when you resist, delay, or obstruct an officer while they are performing their official duties.

You will not be convicted of this crime if you acted in defense of yourself to an unlawful police procedure. Further, you will not be charged if you resisted against excessive force.¹³

Domestic Violence

California domestic violence laws make it a California crime to harm, or threaten to harm, an intimate partner. Common charges include:

• Penal Code 243(e)(1), domestic battery, and
• Penal Code 273.5, inflicting corporal injury on an intimate partner.

Self-defense in these situations is justified when there is imminent danger, and the force used in response to the assailant is reasonable.¹⁴

Murder, Penal Code 187 PC

Murder is the intentional killingof another withmalice aforethought, defined as

• an unlawful intention to killor
• acting with areckless disregardfor human life.

If you are in imminent danger of being killed, you may take whatever measures that are necessary to prevent the killing. Deadly force is obviously expected and will be excused if reasonable and not excessive to prevent harm.

Imperfect Self-defense

California’s Flannel Doctrine – also referred to as “imperfect self-defense” – applies when you kill another person based on an honest but unreasonable beliefin the need to use deadly force in self-defense.

To go into effect, the Flannel Doctrine requires a showing that:

1. you believed that you were in imminent perilof being killed or suffering great bodily injury,
2. you believed that the immediate use of deadly force was necessary to defend yourself, and
3. at least one of these beliefs wasunreasonable.¹⁵

Additional Resources

For more in-depth information on self-defense laws, refer to these scholarly articles:

• Abused Women Abused by the Law: The Plight of Battered Women in California and a Proposal for Revising the California Self-Defense Law – California Review of Law & Women’s Studies.
• Justifying Self-defense – Law & Philosophy.
• A Matter of Evidence or of Law – Battered Women Claiming Self-Defense in California – UCLA Women’s Law Journal.
• A New Defense for Self-defense – Buffalo Law Review.
• Self-Defense Re-Examined – UCLA Law Review.

Legal References: