This document includes House Committee Amendments incorporated into the bill on Fri, Feb 2, 2024 at 10:00 AM by housengrossing.
1     
DEFENSIVE FORCE AMENDMENTS

2     
2024 GENERAL SESSION

3     
STATE OF UTAH

4     
Chief Sponsor: Ryan D. Wilcox

5     
Senate Sponsor: Michael S. Kennedy

6     

7     LONG TITLE
8     General Description:
9          This bill concerns when defensive force may be used in certain situations.
10     Highlighted Provisions:
11          This bill:
12          ▸     modifies provisions concerning when defensive force or deadly force may be used
13     in certain situations involving individuals and specific types of property; and
14          ▸     makes technical and conforming changes.
15     Money Appropriated in this Bill:
16          None
17     Other Special Clauses:
18          None
19     Utah Code Sections Affected:
20     AMENDS:
21          76-2-405, as last amended by Laws of Utah 1985, Chapter 252
22          76-2-406, as last amended by Laws of Utah 2010, Chapter 377
23          76-2-407, as enacted by Laws of Utah 2002, Chapter 273
24     

25     Be it enacted by the Legislature of the state of Utah:
26          Section 1. Section 76-2-405 is amended to read:
27          76-2-405. Force or deadly force in defense of habitation, vehicle, or place of
28     business or employment.
29          (1) [A person] Except as provided in Subsection (2), an actor is justified in using force
30     against [another] an individual when and to the extent that [he] the actor reasonably believes
31     that the force is necessary to prevent or terminate the [other's] individual's unlawful entry into Ĥ→
31a     the actor's vehicle or unlawful entry ←Ĥ
32     or attack upon [his] the actor's habitation Ĥ→ [, vehicle,] ←Ĥ or place of business or employment.
33          (2) [; however, he] An actor is justified in [the use of] using force against the individual
34     described in Subsection (1) [which] that is intended or likely to cause death or serious bodily
35     injury to the individual only if:
36          (a) (i) the entry is made or attempted in a violent and tumultuous manner,
37     surreptitiously, or by stealth[,]; and
38          (ii) [he] the actor reasonably believes:
39          (A) that the entry is attempted or made for the purpose of assaulting or [offering]
40     perpetrating personal violence [to any person,] against any individual who dwells in or is
41     present [dwelling, or being] in the habitation or is present in the vehicle, or place of business or
42     employment; and
43          (B) [he reasonably believes] that the force is necessary to prevent the assault or [offer]
44     perpetration of personal violence; or
45          (b) [he] the actor reasonably believes that:
46          (i) the entry is made or attempted for the purpose of committing a felony in the
47     habitation; and
48          (ii) [that] the force is necessary to prevent the commission of the felony.
49          [(2)] (3) (a) [The person using] An actor who uses force or deadly force [in defense of]
50     against an individual to defend the actor's habitation is presumed for the purpose of both civil
51     and criminal cases to have acted reasonably and had a reasonable fear of imminent peril of
52     death or serious bodily injury if the entry or attempted entry is:
53          (i) [is] unlawful; and
54          (ii) [is] made or attempted:
55          (A) by use of force[, or];
56          (B) in a violent and tumultuous manner[, or];
57          (C) surreptitiously or by stealth[, or]; or
58          (D) for the purpose of committing a felony.
59          (b) An actor who uses force or deadly force against an individual to defend the actor's
60     vehicle or place of business or employment is presumed for the purpose of both civil and
61     criminal cases to have acted reasonably and had a reasonable fear of imminent peril of death or
62     serious bodily injury if:
63          (i) the actor knew or had reason to believe that the individual:
64          (A) entered, or attempted to enter, unlawfully and with force, the actor's occupied
65     vehicle or place of business or employment; or
66          (B) removed, or attempted to remove, unlawfully and with force, the actor from the
67     actor's vehicle or place of business or employment; and
68          (ii) the actor:
69          (A) did not provoke the individual; and
70          (B) was not otherwise engaged in criminal activity, other than a traffic offense, at the
71     time the force was used.
72          (c) The presumption in Subsection (3)(b) applies to an actor's use of force or deadly
73     force against an individual to protect a third person if:
74          (i) under the circumstances as the actor believes them to be, the actor would be
75     justified under Subsection (3)(b) in using force or deadly force to protect the actor against the
76     unlawful force or unlawful deadly force that the actor reasonably believes to be threatening the
77     third person the actor seeks to protect; and
78          (ii) the actor reasonably believes that the actor's intervention is immediately necessary
79     to protect the third person.
80          Section 2. Section 76-2-406 is amended to read:
81          76-2-406. Force in defense of property -- Affirmative defense.
82          (1) [A person] Except as provided in Section 76-2-405, an actor is justified in using
83     force, other than deadly force, against another individual when and to the extent that the
84     [person] actor reasonably believes that force is necessary to prevent or terminate [another
85     person's] the individual's criminal interference with real property or personal property:
86          (a) lawfully in the [person's] actor's possession;
87          (b) lawfully in the possession of a member of the [person's] actor's immediate family;
88     or
89          (c) belonging to [a person] an individual whose property the [person] actor has a legal
90     duty to protect.
91          (2) In determining reasonableness under Subsection (1), the trier of fact shall, in
92     addition to any other factors, consider the following factors:
93          (a) the apparent or perceived extent of the damage to the property;
94          (b) property damage previously caused by the other [person] individual;
95          (c) threats of personal injury or damage to property that have been made previously by
96     the other [person] individual; and
97          (d) any patterns of abuse or violence between the [person] actor and the [other person]
98     individual.
99          Section 3. Section 76-2-407 is amended to read:
100          76-2-407. Deadly force in defense of individuals on real property.
101          (1) As used in this section, "forcible felony" means the same as that term is defined in
102     Section 76-2-402.
103          (2) [A person] An actor is justified in using force intended or likely to cause death or
104     serious bodily injury against [another] an individual in [his] the actor's defense of [persons]
105     another individual on real property other than [his habitation] the places or situations described
106     in Section 76-2-405 if:
107          (a) [he] the actor is in lawful possession of the real property;
108          (b) [he] the actor reasonably believes that the force is necessary to prevent or terminate
109     the [other person's] individual's trespass onto the real property;
110          (c) the individual's trespass is made or attempted by use of force or in a violent and
111     tumultuous manner; and
112          (d) (i) the [person] actor reasonably believes:
113          (A) that the individual's trespass is attempted or made for the purpose of committing
114     violence against [any person] an individual on the real property; and
115          (B) [he reasonably believes] that the force is necessary to prevent personal violence; or
116          (ii) the [person] actor reasonably believes that:
117          (A) the individual's trespass is made or attempted for the purpose of committing a
118     forcible felony [as defined in Section 76-2-402] that poses imminent peril of death or serious
119     bodily injury to [a person] an individual on the real property; and
120          (B) [that] the force is necessary to prevent the commission of [that] the forcible felony.
121          [(2)] (3) [The person using] An actor who uses deadly force in defense of [persons] an
122     individual on real property under Subsection [(1)] (2) is presumed for the purpose of both civil
123     and criminal cases to have acted reasonably and had a reasonable fear of imminent peril of
124     death or serious bodily injury if the trespass or attempted trespass:
125          (a) is unlawful; and
126          (b) is made or attempted:
127          (i) by use of force[, or];
128          (ii) in a violent and tumultuous manner[,]; or
129          (iii) for the purpose of committing a forcible felony.
130          Section 4. Effective date.
131          This bill takes effect on May 1, 2024.