In most cases, it is illegal to use unjustified force against others, but one of the strongest criminal defenses to these charges is arguing that you were acting in self-defense. California is known as a “stand your ground” state, which means you have the right to use force to defend yourself or another person without first attempting to escape. This affirmative defense involves confessing to the act but excusing your behavior based on the specific circumstances. You even have the “right to defend real or personal property” (aka, your home and your stuff), though you may only use deadly force if you are protecting your home from invaders, an exception known as the Castle Doctrine.
California Self-Defense Laws
Self-defense involves a person arguing that they were justified in using force to protect themselves. It is considered a total defense under the law, as it completely excuses someone from the charges if a criminal jury agrees they were acting within their rights. This defense can be used for all types of violent crime charges, but it is particularly useful in cases involving homicide, attempted murder, assault, battery, road rage, or domestic violence.
You can’t just claim self-defense because you harmed someone. Your lawyer must be able to show that you:
- Reasonably believed you were in imminent danger, meaning immediate threat, of suffering bodily harm or dying
- Thought immediate force was necessary to stop that danger
- Used the reasonable force required to defend yourself, meaning you did not exceed the amount of force a reasonable person would use in the same situation
If your criminal defense attorney can show that you met all three requirements, there is a good chance you can avoid facing criminal charges. When the District Attorney does choose to file the charges, it is up to the prosecutor to prove that you did not meet the requirements set by the state’s self-defense laws, which can be particularly difficult if you have any witnesses supporting your claims.
Does California Have Stand Your Ground Laws?
While all states have self-defense laws, some have a “duty to retreat” standard, which requires you to attempt to escape from the danger before resorting to the use of force. California is a stand-your-ground state, which means that if you find yourself in danger of imminent harm, you have no duty to retreat from the situation to defend yourself against that danger.
In other words, if someone threatened you with a weapon and you injured them to put a stop to their threat, you can still claim self-defense even if you could have easily run away from the scene. Similarly, you can shoot an attacking zombie without having to attempt to escape the shambling monster first.
Coming to the Defense of Others
While most people know that you can defend yourself against violent crime charges by claiming you acted in self-defense, fewer people know that the same legal precedent applies to protecting others. So, if you have a reasonable belief that someone is being sexually assaulted, beaten, or threatened, California state law says that you can step in to protect them if necessary.
What Can you Legally do if Someone is Stealing Your Property?
State law permits you to use “reasonable force” to defend what is known as “real or personal property” from “imminent harm.” There are three essential aspects of this law, all of which must be met to justify the use of violence when defending property:
- Reasonable force: The amount of force you can use in these cases is much more limited than when defending yourself or someone else, and deadly force cannot be used in most cases. Lethal force is considered an excessive response to a threat against property, even when there is no other way to stop the theft, as no one’s life is put in danger when someone takes something like a wallet or purse.
- Real or personal property: While this is an example of legal jargon that confuses people, these terms are actually simple. Like “real estate,” “real property” refers to land or something on the land. “Personal” property, on the other hand, means other possessions, like a wallet, cell phone, painting, etc. If someone threatens your real or personal property, you have the right to defend it.
- Imminent harm: In this case, the immediate threat of theft or damage to your property.
Your prior relationship or knowledge of the “victim’s” past is also highly relevant to a claim of perceived threat and reasonable force. For example, if you work as a security guard and know a man has repeatedly attacked those who tried to stop him from shoplifting, arguing that you were justified in using force will be much easier.
The Castle Doctrine in California
One exception in which you have the right to use deadly force to defend your property is the “Castle Doctrine,” detailed under Penal Code 198.5 (PC). Under this law, you can protect your home without retreating, even if it requires deadly force. Because home invasions produce an elevated threat to the resident, the law considers these situations to warrant the use of lethal force as needed.
Defending the Property of Others
While you can legally use force to come to someone else’s aid, this is not the case when it comes to defending the property of others. While you can legally use this defense for items temporarily under your care, for example, a vehicle you are renting, you cannot act in self-defense of someone else’s property under their care. You can, however, use reasonable force in a citizen’s arrest if you see someone break the law by stealing or damaging another person’s property, as long as force was used as a last resort.
Claiming Self-Defense in a Fight
You can use self-defense if you were the initial aggressor in a fight, as long as you made a good-faith effort to disengage the conflict and made that clear to the person you were fighting against. If they fail to break off the fight or attempt to use deadly force in response to your use of non-deadly force, you can argue that you used self-defense.
Of course, by arguing that you used self-defense, you cannot claim that you were participating in mutual combat. While mutual combat is technically illegal in California, prosecutors frequently choose not to file charges in these cases as long as both parties agree the aggression was mutual, and neither party was injured significantly more than the other.
Deadly Force Can Only be Used Against a Deadly Threat
The general rule of self-defense involving deadly force is that you cannot use lethal force for a non-deadly threat. Unless someone is armed with a deadly weapon, is entering your home without permission, or is using extreme physical violence, it can be hard to prove self-defense if you react with lethal force.
For example, you would most likely be justified in killing someone if they were armed with a weapon and using extreme physical violence. However, if they were only using their fists to punch at you, deadly force would likely be considered excessive. The important thing in these circumstances is that a reasonable person would probably feel that lethal force was necessary to put an end to an imminent threat of harm.
Arguing Imperfect Self-Defense
When someone kills another person believing they were acting in self-defense, but the specifics of the incident do not meet the requirements for self-defense under California law, their lawyer may attempt to argue that they were acting in “imperfect self-defense.” This defense essentially means arguing that while a reasonable person might not believe they were in imminent danger or were justified in using deadly force, the defendant did believe these things at the time of the incident. When imperfect defense is successfully argued, the defendant’s murder charges will be reduced to manslaughter charges.
This defense involves arguing that:
- you genuinely believed you were facing a deadly threat from the other party
- you thought you could only defend yourself by resorting to using deadly force
- a reasonable person would not believe the threat was deadly or that deadly force was required to stop the danger
Note that this defense is rarely successful in cases involving property because if you didn’t believe your life was in danger, the defense is invalid. For example, you could argue that while someone was only attempting to take your car or purse, you truly believed that they were putting your life in danger and, therefore, thought it was reasonable to use deadly force to protect yourself. On the other hand, if you saw someone taking your bike across the street, it would be hard to argue that you were justified in shooting them.
Can You Protect Yourself or Your Property With a Gun in California?
It depends on the situation. If you are justified in using deadly force to protect yourself or your home, you would be within your rights to use a firearm to do so. California state law does permit individuals to use guns for home protection. However, you cannot shoot someone who is just trying to steal something belonging to you outside of the home. Even brandishing a gun or firing a warning shot would still be illegal if someone is attempting to steal from you away from your home.
Showing the Use of Force Was Reasonable
In clear-cut cases of self-defense, you will typically not face charges. You are particularly likely to avoid charges if witnesses back up your story, and you used minimal force to stop the threat. On the other hand, if you broke multiple bones in someone’s arm because they pushed your girlfriend, self-defense would be a poor defense because you most certainly used excessive force.
While it’s not always possible to do in the heat of the moment, if you want to ensure you can claim you acted in self-defense, always verify there is an actual threat before taking action, and never inflict more injuries than necessary.
Contact a Lawyer Before Mounting Your Defense
Because both a “reasonable fear of imminent harm” and “excessive force” can be so subjective, it is best to speak with your criminal lawyer before answering any police questions. Failing to do so could result in your accidentally saying something that could negate your use of this defense under the law. For example, if you say that you didn’t think the attacker seemed very intimidating, but you didn’t want anyone else to be scared, this could be used as proof that you didn’t believe anyone was actually in imminent danger.
Similarly, if you say you wanted to “teach” someone a lesson for what they did, this could be considered evidence that you knowingly used more force than necessary to defend yourself.
If you were arrested after acting in self-defense, defense of another person, or defense of your property, please contact Peter M. Liss as soon as possible. You can schedule a free consultation by calling (760) 643-4050 or (858) 486-3024 to discuss your case.
