| 1 | A bill to be entitled |
| 2 | An act relating to use of deadly force; amending s. |
| 3 | 776.013, F.S.; requiring an overt act to support a belief |
| 4 | that the use of deadly force for specified purposes is |
| 5 | necessary; defining the term "unlawful activity" for |
| 6 | specified purposes; amending s. 776.032, F.S.; providing |
| 7 | that immunity from civil and criminal liability for |
| 8 | certain uses of deadly force does not apply to injuries to |
| 9 | children and bystanders who are not affiliated with the |
| 10 | overt act; providing an effective date. |
| 11 |
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| 12 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 13 |
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| 14 | Section 1. Subsection (3) of section 776.013, Florida |
| 15 | Statutes, is amended, and paragraph (d) is added to subsection |
| 16 | (5) of that section, to read: |
| 17 | 776.013 Home protection; use of deadly force; presumption |
| 18 | of fear of death or great bodily harm.-- |
| 19 | (3) A person who is not engaged in an unlawful activity |
| 20 | and who is attacked in any other place where he or she has a |
| 21 | right to be has no duty to retreat and has the right to stand |
| 22 | his or her ground and meet force with force, including deadly |
| 23 | force if he or she reasonably believes due to an overt act that |
| 24 | it is necessary to do so to prevent death or great bodily harm |
| 25 | to himself or herself or another or to prevent the commission of |
| 26 | a forcible felony. |
| 27 | (5) As used in this section, the term: |
| 28 | (d) "Unlawful activity" means activity undertaken by a |
| 29 | person that is prohibited by the laws of this state. |
| 30 | Section 2. Subsection (1) of section 776.032, Florida |
| 31 | Statutes, is amended to read: |
| 32 | 776.032 Immunity from criminal prosecution and civil |
| 33 | action for justifiable use of force.-- |
| 34 | (1) A person who uses force as permitted in s. 776.012, s. |
| 35 | 776.013, or s. 776.031 is justified in using such force and is |
| 36 | immune from criminal prosecution and civil action for the use of |
| 37 | such force; however, such immunity shall not apply to injuries |
| 38 | to children and bystanders who are not affiliated with the overt |
| 39 | act. Immunity will be granted, unless the person against whom |
| 40 | force was used is a law enforcement officer, as defined in s. |
| 41 | 943.10(14), who was acting in the performance of his or her |
| 42 | official duties and the officer identified himself or herself in |
| 43 | accordance with any applicable law or the person using force |
| 44 | knew or reasonably should have known that the person was a law |
| 45 | enforcement officer. As used in this subsection, the term |
| 46 | "criminal prosecution" includes arresting, detaining in custody, |
| 47 | and charging or prosecuting the defendant. |
| 48 | Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2007. |