CHAPTER 3. DEFENSES RELATING TO CULPABILITY
IC 35-41-3
Chapter 3. Defenses Relating to Culpability
IC 35-41-3-1
Legal authority
Sec. 1. A person is justified in engaging in conduct otherwiseprohibited if he has legal authority to do so.
As added by Acts 1976, P.L.148, SEC.1. Amended by Acts 1977,P.L.340, SEC.7.
IC 35-41-3-2
Use of force to protect person or property
Sec. 2. (a) A person is justified in using reasonable force againstanother person to protect the person or a third person from what theperson reasonably believes to be the imminent use of unlawful force.However, a person:
(1) is justified in using deadly force; and
(2) does not have a duty to retreat;
if the person reasonably believes that that force is necessary toprevent serious bodily injury to the person or a third person or thecommission of a forcible felony. No person in this state shall beplaced in legal jeopardy of any kind whatsoever for protecting theperson or a third person by reasonable means necessary.
(b) A person:
(1) is justified in using reasonable force, including deadly force,against another person; and
(2) does not have a duty to retreat;
if the person reasonably believes that the force is necessary toprevent or terminate the other person's unlawful entry of or attack onthe person's dwelling, curtilage, or occupied motor vehicle.
(c) With respect to property other than a dwelling, curtilage, or anoccupied motor vehicle, a person is justified in using reasonableforce against another person if the person reasonably believes thatthe force is necessary to immediately prevent or terminate the otherperson's trespass on or criminal interference with property lawfullyin the person's possession, lawfully in possession of a member of theperson's immediate family, or belonging to a person whose propertythe person has authority to protect. However, a person:
(1) is justified in using deadly force; and
(2) does not have a duty to retreat;
only if that force is justified under subsection (a).
(d) A person is justified in using reasonable force, includingdeadly force, against another person and does not have a duty toretreat if the person reasonably believes that the force is necessary toprevent or stop the other person from hijacking, attempting to hijack,or otherwise seizing or attempting to seize unlawful control of anaircraft in flight. For purposes of this subsection, an aircraft isconsidered to be in flight while the aircraft is:
(1) on the ground in Indiana:
(A) after the doors of the aircraft are closed for takeoff; and (B) until the aircraft takes off;
(2) in the airspace above Indiana; or
(3) on the ground in Indiana:
(A) after the aircraft lands; and
(B) before the doors of the aircraft are opened after landing.
(e) Notwithstanding subsections (a), (b), and (c), a person is notjustified in using force if:
(1) the person is committing or is escaping after the commissionof a crime;
(2) the person provokes unlawful action by another person withintent to cause bodily injury to the other person; or
(3) the person has entered into combat with another person oris the initial aggressor unless the person withdraws from theencounter and communicates to the other person the intent to doso and the other person nevertheless continues or threatens tocontinue unlawful action.
(f) Notwithstanding subsection (d), a person is not justified inusing force if the person:
(1) is committing, or is escaping after the commission of, acrime;
(2) provokes unlawful action by another person, with intent tocause bodily injury to the other person; or
(3) continues to combat another person after the other personwithdraws from the encounter and communicates the otherperson's intent to stop hijacking, attempting to hijack, orotherwise seizing or attempting to seize unlawful control of anaircraft in flight.
As added by Acts 1976, P.L.148, SEC.1. Amended by Acts 1977,P.L.340, SEC.8; Acts 1979, P.L.297, SEC.1; P.L.59-2002, SEC.1;P.L.189-2006, SEC.1.
IC 35-41-3-3
Use of force relating to arrest or escape
Sec. 3. (a) A person other than a law enforcement officer isjustified in using reasonable force against another person to effect anarrest or prevent the other person's escape if:
(1) a felony has been committed; and
(2) there is probable cause to believe the other personcommitted that felony.
However, such a person is not justified in using deadly force unlessthat force is justified under section 2 of this chapter.
(b) A law enforcement officer is justified in using reasonableforce if the officer reasonably believes that the force is necessary toeffect a lawful arrest. However, an officer is justified in using deadlyforce only if the officer:
(1) has probable cause to believe that that deadly force isnecessary:
(A) to prevent the commission of a forcible felony; or
(B) to effect an arrest of a person who the officer hasprobable cause to believe poses a threat of serious bodily
injury to the officer or a third person; and
(2) has given a warning, if feasible, to the person against whomthe deadly force is to be used.
(c) A law enforcement officer making an arrest under an invalidwarrant is justified in using force as if the warrant was valid, unlessthe officer knows that the warrant is invalid.
(d) A law enforcement officer who has an arrested person incustody is justified in using the same force to prevent the escape ofthe arrested person from custody that the officer would be justifiedin using if the officer was arresting that person. However, an officeris justified in using deadly force only if the officer:
(1) has probable cause to believe that deadly force is necessaryto prevent the escape from custody of a person who the officerhas probable cause to believe poses a threat of serious bodilyinjury to the officer or a third person; and
(2) has given a warning, if feasible, to the person against whomthe deadly force is to be used.
(e) A guard or other official in a penal facility or a lawenforcement officer is justified in using reasonable force, includingdeadly force, if the officer has probable cause to believe that theforce is necessary to prevent the escape of a person who is detainedin the penal facility.
(f) Notwithstanding subsection (b), (d), or (e), a law enforcementofficer who is a defendant in a criminal prosecution has the sameright as a person who is not a law enforcement officer to assertself-defense under IC 35-41-3-2.
As added by Acts 1976, P.L.148, SEC.1. Amended by Acts 1977,P.L.340, SEC.9; Acts 1979, P.L.297, SEC.2; P.L.245-1993, SEC.1.
IC 35-41-3-4
Repealed
(Repealed by Acts 1977, P.L.340, SEC.148.)
IC 35-41-3-5
Intoxication
Sec. 5. It is a defense that the person who engaged in theprohibited conduct did so while he was intoxicated, only if theintoxication resulted from the introduction of a substance into hisbody:
(1) without his consent; or
(2) when he did not know that the substance might causeintoxication.
As added by Acts 1976, P.L.148, SEC.1. Amended by Acts 1977,P.L.340, SEC.10; Acts 1980, P.L.205, SEC.1; P.L.210-1997, SEC.4.
IC 35-41-3-6
Mental disease or defect
Sec. 6. (a) A person is not responsible for having engaged inprohibited conduct if, as a result of mental disease or defect, he wasunable to appreciate the wrongfulness of the conduct at the time of
the offense.
(b) As used in this section, "mental disease or defect" means aseverely abnormal mental condition that grossly and demonstrablyimpairs a person's perception, but the term does not include anabnormality manifested only by repeated unlawful or antisocialconduct.
As added by Acts 1976, P.L.148, SEC.1. Amended by Acts 1977,P.L.340, SEC.11; P.L.184-1984, SEC.1.
IC 35-41-3-7
Mistake of fact
Sec. 7. It is a defense that the person who engaged in theprohibited conduct was reasonably mistaken about a matter of fact,if the mistake negates the culpability required for commission of theoffense.
As added by Acts 1976, P.L.148, SEC.1. Amended by Acts 1977,P.L.340, SEC.12.
IC 35-41-3-8
Duress
Sec. 8. (a) It is a defense that the person who engaged in theprohibited conduct was compelled to do so by threat of imminentserious bodily injury to himself or another person. With respect tooffenses other than felonies, it is a defense that the person whoengaged in the prohibited conduct was compelled to do so by forceor threat of force. Compulsion under this section exists only if theforce, threat, or circumstances are such as would render a person ofreasonable firmness incapable of resisting the pressure.
(b) This section does not apply to a person who:
(1) recklessly, knowingly, or intentionally placed himself in asituation in which it was foreseeable that he would be subjectedto duress; or
(2) committed an offense against the person as defined inIC 35-42.
As added by Acts 1976, P.L.148, SEC.1. Amended by Acts 1977,P.L.340, SEC.13.
IC 35-41-3-9
Entrapment
Sec. 9. (a) It is a defense that:
(1) the prohibited conduct of the person was the product of alaw enforcement officer, or his agent, using persuasion or othermeans likely to cause the person to engage in the conduct; and
(2) the person was not predisposed to commit the offense.
(b) Conduct merely affording a person an opportunity to committhe offense does not constitute entrapment.
As added by Acts 1976, P.L.148, SEC.1. Amended by Acts 1977,P.L.340, SEC.14.
IC 35-41-3-10 Abandonment
Sec. 10. With respect to a charge under IC 35-41-2-4,IC 35-41-5-1, or IC 35-41-5-2, it is a defense that the person whoengaged in the prohibited conduct voluntarily abandoned his effortto commit the underlying crime and voluntarily prevented itscommission.
As added by Acts 1976, P.L.148, SEC.1. Amended by Acts 1977,P.L.340, SEC.15.
IC 35-41-3-11
Mental disease or defect; use of justifiable reasonable force
Sec. 11. (a) As used in this section, "defendant" refers to anindividual charged with any crime involving the use of force againsta person.
(b) This section applies under the following circumstances whenthe defendant in a prosecution raises the issue that the defendant wasat the time of the alleged crime suffering from the effects of batteryas a result of the past course of conduct of the individual who is thevictim of the alleged crime:
(1) The defendant raises the issue that the defendant was notresponsible as a result of mental disease or defect under section6 of this chapter, rendering the defendant unable to appreciatethe wrongfulness of the conduct at the time of the crime.
(2) The defendant claims to have used justifiable reasonableforce under section 2 of this chapter. The defendant has theburden of going forward to produce evidence from which a trierof fact could find support for the reasonableness of thedefendant's belief in the imminence of the use of unlawful forceor, when deadly force is employed, the imminence of seriousbodily injury to the defendant or a third person or thecommission of a forcible felony.
(c) If a defendant proposes to claim the use of justifiablereasonable force under subsection (b)(2), the defendant must file awritten motion of that intent with the trial court not later than:
(1) twenty (20) days if the defendant is charged with a felony;or
(2) ten (10) days if the defendant is charged only with one (1)or more misdemeanors;
before the omnibus date. However, in the interest of justice and upona showing of good cause, the court may permit the filing to be madeat any time before the commencement of the trial.
(d) The introduction of any expert testimony under this sectionshall be in accordance with the Indiana Rules of Evidence.
As added by P.L.210-1997, SEC.5.