Senate File 137 - Introduced
SENATE FILE
BY BERTRAND, ANDERSON,
SCHULTZ, SINCLAIR,
COSTELLO, FEENSTRA,
SHIPLEY, KRAAYENBRINK,
CHELGREN, BEHN,
BREITBACH, GARRETT,
SEGEBART, KAPUCIAN,
ZAUN, CHAPMAN,
ROZENBOOM, GUTH, DIX,
ZUMBACH, WHITVER,
SMITH, JOHNSON, and
SCHNEIDER
A BILL FOR
1 An Act relating to the justifiable use of reasonable force and
2 providing a remedy.
3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
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PAG LIN
1 1 Section 1. Section 704.1, Code 2015, is amended to read as
1 2 follows:
1 3 704.1 Reasonable force.
1 4 1. "Reasonable force" is means that force and no more which
1 5 a reasonable person, in like circumstances, would judge to
1 6 be necessary to prevent an injury or loss and can include
1 7 deadly force if it is reasonable to believe that such force is
1 8 necessary to avoid injury or risk to one's life or safety or
1 9 the life or safety of another, or it is reasonable to believe
1 10 that such force is necessary to resist a like force or threat.
1 11 2. Reasonable force, including deadly force, may be used
1 12 even if an alternative course of action is available if the
1 13 alternative entails a risk to life or safety, or the life or
1 14 safety of a third party, or requires one to abandon or retreat
1 15 from one's dwelling or place of business or employment.
1 16 3. A person may be wrong in the estimation of the danger or
1 17 the force necessary to repel the danger as long as there is a
1 18 reasonable basis for the belief of the person and the person
1 19 acts reasonably in the response to that belief.
1 20 4. A person who is not engaged in illegal activity has no
1 21 duty to retreat from any place where the person is lawfully
1 22 present before using force as specified in this chapter.
1 23 A finder of fact shall not be permitted to consider the
1 24 possibility of retreat as a factor in determining whether or
1 25 not a person who used force reasonably believed that the force
1 26 was necessary to prevent injury, loss, or risk to life or
1 27 safety.
1 28 Sec. 2. Section 704.2, Code 2015, is amended by adding the
1 29 following new subsection:
1 30 NEW SUBSECTION. 1A. A threat to cause serious injury
1 31 or death, by the production, display, or brandishing of a
1 32 deadly weapon, is not deadly force, as long as the actions of
1 33 the person are limited to creating an expectation that the
1 34 person may use deadly force to defend oneself, another, or as
1 35 otherwise authorized by law.
2 1 Sec. 3. NEW SECTION. 704.2A Justifiable use of deadly
2 2 force.
2 3 1. For purposes of this chapter, a person is presumed to
2 4 reasonably believe that deadly force is necessary to avoid
2 5 injury or risk to one's life or safety or the life or safety of
2 6 another in either of the following circumstances:
2 7 a. The person against whom force is used, at the time the
2 8 force is used, is doing any of the following:
2 9 (1) Unlawfully entering by force or stealth, or has
2 10 unlawfully entered by force or stealth and remains within the
2 11 dwelling, place of business or employment, or occupied vehicle
2 12 of the person using force.
2 13 (2) Unlawfully removing or is attempting to unlawfully
2 14 remove another person against the other person's will from the
2 15 dwelling, place of business or employment, or occupied vehicle
2 16 of the person using force.
2 17 b. The person using force knows or has reason to believe
2 18 that any of the conditions set forth in paragraph "a" are
2 19 occurring or have occurred.
2 20 2. The presumption set forth in subsection 1 does not
2 21 apply if, at the time force is used, any of the following
2 22 circumstances are present:
2 23 a. The person using defensive force is engaged in a
2 24 criminal offense, is attempting to escape from the scene of a
2 25 criminal offense that the person has committed, or is using the
2 26 dwelling, place of business or employment, or occupied vehicle
2 27 to further a criminal offense.
2 28 b. The person sought to be removed is a child or grandchild
2 29 or is otherwise in the lawful custody or under the lawful
2 30 guardianship of the person against whom force is used.
2 31 c. The person against whom force is used is a peace officer
2 32 who has entered or is attempting to enter a dwelling, place
2 33 of business or employment, or occupied vehicle in the lawful
2 34 performance of the peace officer's official duties, and the
2 35 person using force knows or reasonably should know that the
3 1 person who has entered or is attempting to enter is a peace
3 2 officer.
3 3 d. The person against whom the force is used has the right
3 4 to be in, or is a lawful resident of, the dwelling, place of
3 5 business or employment, or occupied vehicle of the person using
3 6 force, and a protective or no=contact order is not in effect
3 7 against the person against whom the force is used.
3 8 Sec. 4. Section 704.3, Code 2015, is amended to read as
3 9 follows:
3 10 704.3 Defense of self or another.
3 11 A person is justified in the use of reasonable force when
3 12 the person reasonably believes that such force is necessary to
3 13 defend oneself or another from any actual or imminent use of
3 14 unlawful force.
3 15 Sec. 5. NEW SECTION. 704.4A Immunity for justifiable use of
3 16 force.
3 17 1. As used in this section, "criminal prosecution" means
3 18 arrest, detention, charging, or prosecution.
3 19 2. A person who uses reasonable force pursuant to this
3 20 chapter shall be immune from any criminal prosecution or civil
3 21 action for using such force.
3 22 3. A law enforcement agency may use standard investigating
3 23 procedures for investigating the use of force, but the law
3 24 enforcement agency shall not arrest a person for using force
3 25 unless the law enforcement agency determines there is probable
3 26 cause that the force was unlawful under this chapter.
3 27 4. The court shall award reasonable attorney fees, court
3 28 costs, compensation for loss of income, and all expenses
3 29 incurred by the defendant in defense of any civil action
3 30 brought by the plaintiff if the court finds that the defendant
3 31 is immune from prosecution as provided in subsection 2.
3 32 Sec. 6. Section 704.7, Code 2015, is amended to read as
3 33 follows:
3 34 704.7 Resisting forcible violent felony.
3 35 1. As used in this section, "violent felony" means any
4 1 felonious sexual abuse involving compulsion or the use of a
4 2 weapon or any felonious assault, murder, kidnapping, robbery,
4 3 arson, or burglary.
4 4 2. A person who knows reasonably believes that a forcible
4 5 violent felony is being or will imminently be perpetrated is
4 6 justified in using, against the perpetrator, reasonable force,
4 7 including deadly force, against the perpetrator or perpetrators
4 8 to prevent the completion of or terminate the perpetration of
4 9 that felony.
4 10 Sec. 7. REPEAL. Section 707.6, Code 2015, is repealed.
4 11 EXPLANATION
4 12 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with
4 13 the explanation's substance by the members of the general assembly.
4 14 Current law provides that a person may use reasonable force,
4 15 including deadly force, even if an alternative course of action
4 16 is available if the alternative entails a risk of life or
4 17 safety, or the life or safety of a third party, or requires one
4 18 to abandon or retreat from one's residence or place of business
4 19 or employment.
4 20 This bill provides that a person may use reasonable force,
4 21 including deadly force, if it is reasonable to believe such
4 22 force is necessary to avoid injury or risk to one's life or
4 23 safety or the life or safety of another, even if an alternative
4 24 course of action is available if the alternative entails a risk
4 25 to life or safety, or the life or safety of a third party.
4 26 The bill provides that a person may be wrong in the
4 27 estimation of the danger or the force necessary to repel the
4 28 danger as long as there is a reasonable basis for the belief
4 29 and the person acts reasonably in the response to that belief.
4 30 The bill further provides that a person who is not engaged in
4 31 an illegal activity has no duty to retreat from any place where
4 32 the person is lawfully present before using force. The bill
4 33 prohibits a finder of fact from considering the possibility of
4 34 retreat as a factor in determining whether or not a person who
4 35 used force reasonably believed that the force was necessary to
5 1 prevent injury, loss, or risk to life or safety.
5 2 The bill provides that a threat to cause serious injury
5 3 or death by the production, display, or brandishing of a
5 4 deadly weapon, is not deadly force, as long as the actions of
5 5 the person are limited to creating an expectation that the
5 6 person may use deadly force to defend oneself, another, or as
5 7 otherwise authorized by law.
5 8 The bill creates presumptions for the justifiable use of
5 9 deadly force in certain circumstances.
5 10 Under the bill, a person is presumed to be justified in
5 11 using deadly force if the person reasonably believes that
5 12 deadly force is necessary to avoid injury or risk to one's
5 13 life or safety or the life or safety of another under the
5 14 following circumstances: the person against whom force is used
5 15 is unlawfully entering by force or stealth, or has unlawfully
5 16 entered by force or stealth and remains within a dwelling,
5 17 place of business or employment, or occupied vehicle of the
5 18 person using force; or the person against whom force is used
5 19 is unlawfully removing or attempting to remove another person
5 20 against the other person's will from a dwelling, place of
5 21 business or employment, or occupied vehicle of the person using
5 22 force. In addition, the person using force must know or have
5 23 reason to believe that the aforementioned circumstances are
5 24 occurring or have occurred.
5 25 The presumption of the use of justifiable deadly force
5 26 under the bill does not apply at the time force is used in the
5 27 following circumstances: the person using defensive force is
5 28 engaged in a criminal offense or activity; the person sought
5 29 to be removed is a child or grandchild or is otherwise in the
5 30 lawful custody of the person against whom force is used; the
5 31 person against whom force is used is a peace officer who has
5 32 entered or is attempting to enter a dwelling, place of business
5 33 or employment, or occupied vehicle in the lawful performance
5 34 of the peace officer's official duties, and the person using
5 35 force knows or reasonably should know that the person who has
6 1 entered or is attempting to enter is a peace officer; or the
6 2 person against whom force is used has the right to be in, or
6 3 is a lawful resident of, the dwelling, place of business or
6 4 employment, or occupied vehicle of the person using force, and
6 5 a protective or no=contact order is not in effect against the
6 6 person against whom the force is used.
6 7 The bill provides that a person is justified in the use of
6 8 reasonable force when the person reasonably believes that such
6 9 force is necessary to defend oneself or another from any actual
6 10 as well as imminent use of unlawful force.
6 11 The bill repeals Code section 707.6 and consolidates
6 12 criminal and civil immunity provisions in new Code section
6 13 704.4A. Under the bill, a person who uses reasonable force
6 14 shall be immune from any criminal prosecution or civil action
6 15 for using such force.
6 16 Under the bill, a law enforcement agency shall not arrest a
6 17 person for using force unless it determines there is probable
6 18 cause that the force was unlawful under Code chapter 704.
6 19 The bill also provides that if a defendant is sued by a
6 20 plaintiff for using reasonable force, the court shall award the
6 21 defendant reasonable attorney fees, court costs, compensation
6 22 for loss of income, and expenses if the court finds the
6 23 defendant is immune from prosecution.
6 24 The bill also provides that a person who reasonably
6 25 believes that a violent felony is being or will imminently be
6 26 perpetrated is justified in using reasonable force, including
6 27 deadly force, against a perpetrator to prevent or terminate the
6 28 perpetration of that felony. The bill defines "violent felony"
6 29 to mean any felonious assault, murder, violent or forced sexual
6 30 abuse, kidnapping, robbery, arson, or burglary.
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