State Codes and Statutes

Statutes > Utah > Title-76 > Chapter-02 > 76-2-402

76-2-402. Force in defense of person -- Forcible felony defined.
(1) (a) A person is justified in threatening or using force against another when and to theextent that the person reasonably believes that force or a threat of force is necessary to defend theperson or a third person against another person's imminent use of unlawful force.
(b) A person is justified in using force intended or likely to cause death or serious bodilyinjury only if the person reasonably believes that force is necessary to prevent death or seriousbodily injury to the person or a third person as a result of another person's imminent use ofunlawful force, or to prevent the commission of a forcible felony.
(2) (a) A person is not justified in using force under the circumstances specified inSubsection (1) if the person:
(i) initially provokes the use of force against the person with the intent to use force as anexcuse to inflict bodily harm upon the assailant;
(ii) is attempting to commit, committing, or fleeing after the commission or attemptedcommission of a felony; or
(iii) was the aggressor or was engaged in a combat by agreement, unless the personwithdraws from the encounter and effectively communicates to the other person his intent to doso and, notwithstanding, the other person continues or threatens to continue the use of unlawfulforce.
(b) For purposes of Subsection (2)(a)(iii) the following do not, by themselves, constitute"combat by agreement":
(i) voluntarily entering into or remaining in an ongoing relationship; or
(ii) entering or remaining in a place where one has a legal right to be.
(3) A person does not have a duty to retreat from the force or threatened force describedin Subsection (1) in a place where that person has lawfully entered or remained, except asprovided in Subsection (2)(a)(iii).
(4) (a) For purposes of this section, a forcible felony includes aggravated assault,mayhem, aggravated murder, murder, manslaughter, kidnapping, and aggravated kidnapping,rape, forcible sodomy, rape of a child, object rape, object rape of a child, sexual abuse of a child,aggravated sexual abuse of a child, and aggravated sexual assault as defined in Title 76, Chapter5, Offenses Against the Person, and arson, robbery, and burglary as defined in Title 76, Chapter6, Offenses Against Property.
(b) Any other felony offense which involves the use of force or violence against a personso as to create a substantial danger of death or serious bodily injury also constitutes a forciblefelony.
(c) Burglary of a vehicle, defined in Section 76-6-204, does not constitute a forciblefelony except when the vehicle is occupied at the time unlawful entry is made or attempted.
(5) In determining imminence or reasonableness under Subsection (1), the trier of factmay consider, but is not limited to, any of the following factors:
(a) the nature of the danger;
(b) the immediacy of the danger;
(c) the probability that the unlawful force would result in death or serious bodily injury;
(d) the other's prior violent acts or violent propensities; and
(e) any patterns of abuse or violence in the parties' relationship.

Amended by Chapter 324, 2010 General Session
Amended by Chapter 361, 2010 General Session