If you reasonably believe that someone is about to attack you, another person, or your property, California’s self-defense law allows you to use enough force to prevent the harm. If the court finds that a reasonable person in your position would have fought back the same way, your criminal charges should be dismissed.
Here are five key things to know:
- The force you use must match the level of threatened danger.
- The danger does not need to have been real as long as your belief was reasonable.
- You can use deadly force only if you reasonably fear great bodily injury or death.
- California is a stand-your-ground state, so there is no duty to retreat from a fight.
- California’s Castle Doctrine lets you use deadly force against an intruder who breaks into your home.
Self-defense serves as a legal defense to many criminal offenses, including:
- murder (PC 187) or manslaughter (PC 192),
- mayhem (PC 203),
- domestic battery (PC 243(e)(1)),
- assault with a deadly weapon (PC 245(a)(1)), and
- simple battery (PC 242) or simple assault (PC 240).
CALIFORNIA LAW |
Stand your ground |
Castle doctrine |
Definition | You can defend yourself or others with proportional force if you reasonably fear imminent bodily harm | You can use lethal force to defend your home from intruders |
Maximum force allowed | Proportional force (which can include lethal force) | Lethal force |
Basis in law | Case law and jury instructions | Penal Code 198.5 PC |
Duty to retreat? | No | No |
Our California criminal defense attorneys will answer the following frequently asked questions about our state’s self-defense laws.
- 1. “Self-defense” Defined
- 2. Defense of Others
- 3. Defense of Property
- 4. The Castle Doctrine
- 5. Can I use deadly force?
- 6. Self-defense Applied to Specific Crimes
- Additional Resources
1. “Self-defense” Defined
You legally acted in self-defense under California state law if the following “elements” of the jury instructions are true:
- you reasonably believed that you were in “imminent danger” of suffering bodily injury,1 and
- you reasonably believed that the immediate use of force was necessary to defend against that reasonable fear of imminent peril,2 and
- you used no more force than was reasonably necessary to defend against that danger.3
Since California is a “stand your ground state,” you do not have to retreat in order to lawfully claim self-defense – even if you had a means of escape.
If you started the fight (you were the “aggressor”), you can assert self-defense only if:
- you made a good faith effort to stop fighting and indicated this to the other person, or
- you initially attacked with non-deadly force, and the other person responded with deadly force.4
Proving Self-defense
In California, you never have to prove you acted in self-defense. Instead, once you claim to the court that you acted in self-defense, the prosecution bears the burden to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that you did not act in self-defense.5
Self-defense as an “Affirmative Defense”
Most defenses require you denying that you committed a crime, but self-defense is different.
Self-defense is considered an “affirmative defense.” This means that you are admitting you broke the law (by inflicting physical force on someone), but your actions were justifiable under the circumstances.
2. Defense of Others
California law also allows you to fight back to protect someone else other than yourself if:
- you reasonably believed that the other person was in imminent danger,
- you reasonably believed you needed to use force to prevent the danger, and
- you used no more force than necessary.6
3. Defense of Property
In addition to protecting yourself and others, you are allowed in California to fight back to protect your property if:
- there was an imminent threat of harm to your property, and
- you used reasonable force to defend your property.7
4. The Castle Doctrine
Under California’s Castle Doctrine, there is no duty to retreat from an intruder in your home. You can confront them and chase them away.
The Castle Doctrine even allows you to use deadly force inside your home when an intruder uses force to break in. This is because under Penal Code 198.5 PC, you are presumed to have a reasonable fear of imminent harm when someone breaks into your home. Therefore, committing homicide against the intruder is justified and excusable.8
5. Can I use deadly force?
In California, you are legally justified in using deadly force in self-defense under certain circumstances:
- you reasonably believed that you, or someone else, was in imminent danger of being killed, suffering great bodily injury, or being the victim of a forcible and atrocious crime, and
- you reasonably believed that you needed to use deadly force to prevent the danger from happening, and
- you used no more force than was reasonably necessary to keep the harm from occurring.9
Note that you can use deadly force in self-defense even if you were the original aggressor. This is provided you tried (but ultimately failed) to end the fight.10
As discussed in the previous section, you can also use deadly force when an intruder breaks into your home (“the castle doctrine”).
Can police use deadly force?
Yes, but only if deadly force is necessary. Courts consider not only the officer’s actions but also the victim’s actions before the deadly blow. If police kill unnecessarily, they can face criminal charges.11
6. Self-defense Applied to Specific Crimes
Battery, Penal Code 242 PC
Battery is the unlawful touching of another person. California’s self-defense laws allow you to act in self-defense of a battery if you believe you are in imminent danger, even if you do not fear imminent bodily harm.12
Resisting Arrest, Penal Code 148 PC
Resisting arrest is when you resist, delay, or obstruct an officer while they are performing their official duties.
You will not be convicted of this crime if you acted in defense of yourself to an unlawful police procedure. Further, you will not be charged if you resisted against excessive force.13
Domestic Violence
California domestic violence laws make it a California crime to harm, or threaten to harm, an intimate partner. Common charges include:
- Penal Code 243(e)(1), domestic battery, and
- Penal Code 273.5, inflicting corporal injury on an intimate partner.
Self-defense in these situations is justified when there is imminent danger, and the force used in response to the assailant is reasonable.14
Murder, Penal Code 187 PC
Murder is the intentional killing of another with malice aforethought, defined as
- an unlawful intention to kill or
- acting with a reckless disregard for human life.
If you are in imminent danger of being killed, you may take whatever measures that are necessary to prevent the killing. Deadly force is obviously expected and will be excused if reasonable and not excessive to prevent harm.
Imperfect Self-defense
California’s Flannel Doctrine – also referred to as “imperfect self-defense” – applies when you kill another person based on an honest but unreasonable belief in the need to use deadly force in self-defense.
To go into effect, the Flannel Doctrine requires a showing that:
- you believed that you were in imminent peril of being killed or suffering great bodily injury,
- you believed that the immediate use of deadly force was necessary to defend yourself, and
- at least one of these beliefs was unreasonable.15
Additional Resources
For more in-depth information on self-defense laws, refer to these scholarly articles:
- Abused Women Abused by the Law: The Plight of Battered Women in California and a Proposal for Revising the California Self-Defense Law – California Review of Law & Women’s Studies.
- Justifying Self-defense – Law & Philosophy.
- A Matter of Evidence or of Law – Battered Women Claiming Self-Defense in California – UCLA Women’s Law Journal.
- A New Defense for Self-defense – Buffalo Law Review.
- Self-Defense Re-Examined – UCLA Law Review.
Legal References:
- People v. Aris (1989) 215 Cal.App.3d 1178. A danger is considered imminent when there is an immediate or present threat. This is when a threat is happening right before you. An imminent danger cannot relate to something that may or may not happen in the future.
- Judicial Council of California Criminal Jury Instructions CALCRIM No. 3470 – Right to Self-Defense or Defense of Another (Non-Homicide).
The defendant acted in lawful (self-defense/ [or] defense of another) if:
1. The defendant reasonably believed that (he/she/ [or] someone else/ [or] <insert name of third party>) was in imminent
danger of suffering bodily injury [or was in imminent danger of being touched unlawfully];
2. The defendant reasonably believed that the immediate use of force was necessary to defend against that danger;
AND
3. The defendant used no more force than was reasonably necessary to defend against that danger.See also People v. Humphrey, supra; and, People v. Clark (1982) 130 Cal.App.3d 371. See also People v. Pena (1984) 151 Cal.App.3d 462; and, People v. Minifie (1996) 13 Cal.4th 1055. - Judicial Council of California Criminal Jury Instructions CALCRIM No. 3470 – Right to Self-Defense or Defense of Another (Non-Homicide). See also People v. Humphrey (1996) 13 Cal.4th 1073 for more on California self-defense laws. See also People v. Pineda (2022) .
- CALCRIM No. 3470. See also People v. Hughes (1951) 107 Cal.App.2d 487; and, People v. Hatchett (1942) 56 Cal.App.2d 20. CALCRIM 3471 Mutual Combat or Initial Aggressor.
- People v. Lee (Cal. App. 2005) .
- See note 3.
- CALCRIM 3476 – Right to Defend Real or Personal Property.
- California Penal Code 198.5 PC.
Any person using force intended or likely to cause death or great bodily injury within his or her residence shall be presumed to have held a reasonable fear of imminent peril of death or great bodily injury to self, family, or a member of the household when that force is used against another person, not a member of the family or household, who unlawfully and forcibly enters or has unlawfully and forcibly entered the residence and the person using the force knew or had reason to believe that an unlawful and forcible entry occurred.
As used in this section, great bodily injury means a significant or substantial physical injury.
- CALCRIM 505. See also William English, 2021 National Firearms Survey, Georgetown McDonough School of Business Research Paper No. 3887145 (July 16, 2021).
- CALCRIM 3471. California Penal Code 199.
- California Penal Code 835a; California Assembly Bill 392 (2019); Anita Chabria, “Newsom signs ‘Stephon Clark’s Law,’ setting new rules on police use of force“, Los Angeles Times, (August 19, 2019).
- People v. Myers, (1998) 61 Cal.App.4th 328. CALCRIM No. 3470. People v. Mathews, (1979) 91 Cal.App.3d 1018.
- Note though that you will be charged in California under PC 148 if an officer used excessive force in response to your unjustified resistance.
- The typical situation is when one spouse threatens to harm, or does harm, the other spouse, and the first party uses force in response. Self-defense is also used to protect children from harm by a spouse.
- People v. Por Ye Her (2010) 181 Cal.App.4th 349. See also People v. Thomas (2023) .