Florida Senate - 2014                        COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
       Bill No. SB 448
       
       
       
       
       
       
                                Ì934986`Î934986                         
       
                              LEGISLATIVE ACTION                        
                    Senate             .             House              
                  Comm: RCS            .                                
                  03/05/2014           .                                
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    1         Senate Amendment 
    2  
    3         Delete lines 50 - 135
    4  and insert:
    5         Section 2. Section 776.012, Florida Statutes, is amended to
    6  read:
    7         776.012 Use or threatened use of force in defense of
    8  person.—A person is justified in using force, except deadly
    9  force, or threatening to use force against another when and to
   10  the extent that the person reasonably believes that such conduct
   11  is necessary to defend himself or herself or another against the
   12  other’s imminent use of unlawful force. However, a person is
   13  justified in using or threatening to use the use of deadly force
   14  and does not have a duty to retreat if:
   15         (1) He or she reasonably believes that such force is
   16  necessary to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm to
   17  himself or herself or another or to prevent the imminent
   18  commission of a forcible felony; or
   19         (2) Under those circumstances permitted pursuant to s.
   20  776.013.
   21         Section 3. Subsections (1), (2), and (3) of section
   22  776.013, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
   23         776.013 Home protection; use or threatened use of deadly
   24  force; presumption of fear of death or great bodily harm.—
   25         (1) A person is presumed to have held a reasonable fear of
   26  imminent peril of death or great bodily harm to himself or
   27  herself or another when using or threatening to use defensive
   28  force that is intended or likely to cause death or great bodily
   29  harm to another if:
   30         (a) The person against whom the defensive force was used or
   31  threatened was in the process of unlawfully and forcefully
   32  entering, or had unlawfully and forcibly entered, a dwelling,
   33  residence, or occupied vehicle, or if that person had removed or
   34  was attempting to remove another against that person’s will from
   35  the dwelling, residence, or occupied vehicle; and
   36         (b) The person who uses or threatens to use defensive force
   37  knew or had reason to believe that an unlawful and forcible
   38  entry or unlawful and forcible act was occurring or had
   39  occurred.
   40         (2) The presumption set forth in subsection (1) does not
   41  apply if:
   42         (a) The person against whom the defensive force is used or
   43  threatened has the right to be in or is a lawful resident of the
   44  dwelling, residence, or vehicle, such as an owner, lessee, or
   45  titleholder, and there is not an injunction for protection from
   46  domestic violence or a written pretrial supervision order of no
   47  contact against that person; or
   48         (b) The person or persons sought to be removed is a child
   49  or grandchild, or is otherwise in the lawful custody or under
   50  the lawful guardianship of, the person against whom the
   51  defensive force is used or threatened; or
   52         (c) The person who uses or threatens to use defensive force
   53  is engaged in an unlawful activity or is using the dwelling,
   54  residence, or occupied vehicle to further an unlawful activity;
   55  or
   56         (d) The person against whom the defensive force is used or
   57  threatened is a law enforcement officer, as defined in s.
   58  943.10(14), who enters or attempts to enter a dwelling,
   59  residence, or vehicle in the performance of his or her official
   60  duties and the officer identified himself or herself in
   61  accordance with any applicable law or the person using or
   62  threatening to use force knew or reasonably should have known
   63  that the person entering or attempting to enter was a law
   64  enforcement officer.
   65         (3) A person who is not engaged in an unlawful activity and
   66  who is attacked in any other place where he or she has a right
   67  to be has no duty to retreat and has the right to stand his or
   68  her ground and use or threaten to use meet force with force,
   69  including deadly force if he or she reasonably believes it is
   70  necessary to do so to prevent death or great bodily harm to
   71  himself or herself or another or to prevent the commission of a
   72  forcible felony.
   73         Section 4. Section 776.031, Florida Statutes, is amended to
   74  read:
   75         776.031 Use or threatened use of force in defense of
   76  property others.—A person is justified in using the use of
   77  force, except deadly force, or threatening to use force against
   78  another when and to the extent that the person reasonably
   79  believes that such conduct is necessary to prevent or terminate
   80  the other’s trespass on, or other tortious or criminal
   81  interference with, either real property other than a dwelling or
   82  personal property, lawfully in his or her possession or in the
   83  possession of another who is a member of his or her immediate
   84  family or household or of a person whose property he or she has
   85  a legal duty to protect. However, a the person is justified in
   86  using the use of deadly force only if he or she reasonably
   87  believes that such conduct force is necessary to prevent the
   88  imminent commission of a forcible felony. A person does not have
   89  a duty to retreat if the person is in a place where he or she
   90  has a right to be.