HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.B. NO.

1570

THIRTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2024

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 

 

 

 

 

 

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

 

RELATING TO USE OF FORCE IN SELF-PROTECTION.

 

 

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

 

     SECTION 1.  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] the use of force is immediately necessary for the purpose of protecting [himself] oneself 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] oneself against death, serious bodily injury, kidnapping, rape, or forcible sodomy.

     (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] that 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[:] to resist:

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

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

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

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

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

     (b)  The actor knows that he can avoid the necessity of using such 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 abstain from any action which he 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)]  (6)  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] the assistance of the public officer therein, 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] or assist in the performance of the 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)] (7)  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 2.  This Act does not affect rights and duties that matured, penalties that were incurred, and proceedings that were begun before its effective date.

     SECTION 3.  Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken.  New statutory material is underscored.

     SECTION 4.  This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

 

INTRODUCED BY:

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Report Title:

Self-Protection; Use of Force; Deadly Force

 

Description:

Clarifies when the use of deadly force is not justified.

 

 

 

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