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EXPLANATION-Matter enclosed in bold-faced brackets [thus] in this bill is not enacted
and is intended to be omitted in the law.
SECOND REGULAR SESSION
SENATE BILL NO. 1246
103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
INTRODUCED BY SENATOR BROWN (26).
4728S.01I KRISTINA MARTIN, Secretary
AN ACT
To repeal sections 563.016 and 563.031, RSMo, and to enact in lieu thereof two new sections
relating to the use of self-defense.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Missouri, as follows:
Section A. Sections 563.016 and 563.031, RSMo, are 1
repealed and two new sections enacted in lieu thereof, to be 2
known as sections 563.031 and 563.085, to read as follows:3
563.031. 1. A person may, subject to the provisions 1
of subsection 2 of this section, use physical force upon 2
another person when and to the extent he or she reasonably 3
believes such force to be necessary to defend himself or 4
herself or a third person from what he or she reasonably 5
believes to be the use or imminent use of unlawful force by 6
such other person, unless: 7
(1) The actor was the initial aggressor; except that 8
in such case his or her use of force is nevertheless 9
justifiable provided: 10
(a) He or she has withdrawn from the encounter and 11
effectively communicated such withdrawal to such other 12
person but the latter persists in continuing the incident by 13
the use or threatened use of unlawful force; or 14
(b) He or she is a law enforcement officer and as such 15
is an aggressor pursuant to section 563.046; or 16
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(c) The aggressor is justified under some other 17
provision of this chapter or other provision of law; 18
(2) Under the circumstances as the actor reasonably 19
believes them to be, the person whom he or she seeks to 20
protect would not be justified in using such protective 21
force; 22
(3) The actor was attempting to commit, committing, or 23
escaping after the commission of a forcible felony. 24
2. A person shall not use deadly force upon another 25
person under the circumstances specified in subsection 1 of 26
this section unless: 27
(1) He or she reasonably believes that such deadly 28
force is necessary to protect himself, or herself or her 29
unborn child, or another against death, serious physical 30
injury, or any forcible felony; 31
(2) Such force is used against a person who unlawfully 32
enters, remains after unlawfully entering, or attempts to 33
unlawfully enter a dwelling, residence, or vehicle lawfully 34
occupied by such person; or 35
(3) Such force is used against a person who unlawfully 36
enters, remains after unlawfully entering, or attempts to 37
unlawfully enter private property that is owned or leased by 38
an individual, or is occupied by an individual who has been 39
given specific authority by the property owner to occupy the 40
property, claiming a justification of using protective force 41
under this section. 42
3. A person does not have a duty to retreat: 43
(1) From a dwelling, residence, or vehicle where the 44
person is not unlawfully entering or unlawfully remaining; 45
(2) From private property that is owned or leased by 46
such individual; or 47
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(3) If the person is in any other location such person 48
has the right to be. 49
4. The justification afforded by this section extends 50
to the use of physical restraint as protective force 51
provided that the actor takes all reasonable measures to 52
terminate the restraint as soon as it is reasonable to do so. 53
5. [The defendant shall have the burden of injecting 54
the issue of justification under this section. If a 55
defendant asserts that his or her use of force is described 56
under subdivision (2) of subsection 2 of this section, the 57
burden shall then be on the state to prove beyond a 58
reasonable doubt that the defendant did not reasonably 59
believe that the use of such force was necessary to defend 60
against what he or she reasonably believed was the use or 61
imminent use of unlawful force] There shall be a presumption 62
of reasonableness under this section that the defendant 63
believed such force was necessary to defend himself or 64
herself or a third person from what he or she believed to be 65
the use or imminent use of unlawful force by another person. 66
563.085. 1. A person who uses or threatens to use 1
force pursuant to section 563.031 is justified in such 2
conduct and is immune from criminal prosecution and civil 3
action for the use or threatened use of such force by the 4
person, personal representative, or heirs of the person 5
against whom the force was used or threatened, unless the 6
person against whom force was used or threatened is a law 7
enforcement officer who was acting in the performance of his 8
or her official duties and the officer identified himself or 9
herself in accordance with any applicable law or the person 10
using or threatening to use force knew or reasonably should 11
have known that the person was a law enforcement officer. 12
As used in this subsection, the term "criminal prosecution" 13
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includes arresting, detaining in custody, and charging or 14
prosecuting the defendant. 15
2. A law enforcement agency may use standard 16
procedures for investigating the use or threatened use of 17
force as described in subsection 1 of this section, but the 18
agency may not arrest the person for using or threatening to 19
use force unless the agency determines that there is 20
probable cause that the force that was used or threatened 21
was unlawful. 22
3. In a criminal prosecution or civil action, once a 23
prima facie claim of self-defense immunity has been raised 24
by the defendant at a pretrial immunity hearing, the burden 25
of proof by clear and convincing evidence is on the party 26
seeking to overcome the immunity provided in subsection 1 of 27
this section. 28
[563.016. The fact that conduct is 1
justified under this chapter does not abolish or 2
impair any remedy for such conduct which is 3
available in any civil actions.] 4
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