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| 2 | 2 | | FIRST REGULAR SESSION |
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| 3 | 3 | | SENATE BILL NO. 122 |
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| 4 | 4 | | 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 5 | 5 | | INTRODUCED BY SENATOR BEAN. |
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| 6 | 6 | | 0726S.01I KRISTINA MARTIN, Secretary |
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| 7 | 7 | | AN ACT |
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| 8 | 8 | | To repeal section 563.031, RSMo, and to enact in lieu thereof one new section relating to self- |
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| 9 | 9 | | defense. |
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| 10 | 10 | | |
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| 11 | 11 | | Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Missouri, as follows: |
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| 12 | 12 | | Section A. Section 563.031, RSMo, is repealed and one new 1 |
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| 13 | 13 | | section enacted in lieu thereof, to be known as section 563.031, 2 |
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| 14 | 14 | | to read as follows:3 |
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| 15 | 15 | | 563.031. 1. A person may, subject to the provisions 1 |
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| 16 | 16 | | of subsection 2 of this section, use physical force upon 2 |
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| 17 | 17 | | another person when and to the extent he or she reasonably 3 |
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| 18 | 18 | | believes such force to be necessary to defend himself or 4 |
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| 19 | 19 | | herself or a third person from what he or she reasonably 5 |
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| 20 | 20 | | believes to be the use or imminent use of unlawful force by 6 |
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| 21 | 21 | | such other person, unless: 7 |
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| 22 | 22 | | (1) The actor was the initial aggressor; exc ept that 8 |
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| 23 | 23 | | in such case his or her use of force is nevertheless 9 |
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| 24 | 24 | | justifiable provided: 10 |
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| 25 | 25 | | (a) He or she has withdrawn from the encounter and 11 |
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| 26 | 26 | | effectively communicated such withdrawal to such other 12 |
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| 27 | 27 | | person but the latter persists in continuing the inciden t by 13 |
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| 28 | 28 | | the use or threatened use of unlawful force; or 14 |
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| 29 | 29 | | (b) He or she is a law enforcement officer and as such 15 |
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| 30 | 30 | | is an aggressor pursuant to section 563.046; or 16 |
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| 31 | 31 | | (c) The aggressor is justified under some other 17 |
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| 32 | 32 | | provision of this chapter or other pr ovision of law; 18 SB 122 2 |
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| 33 | 33 | | (2) Under the circumstances as the actor reasonably 19 |
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| 34 | 34 | | believes them to be, the person whom he or she seeks to 20 |
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| 35 | 35 | | protect would not be justified in using such protective 21 |
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| 36 | 36 | | force; 22 |
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| 37 | 37 | | (3) The actor was attempting to commit, committing, or 23 |
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| 38 | 38 | | escaping after the commission of a forcible felony. 24 |
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| 39 | 39 | | 2. A person shall not use deadly force upon another 25 |
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| 40 | 40 | | person under the circumstances specified in subsection 1 of 26 |
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| 41 | 41 | | this section unless: 27 |
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| 42 | 42 | | (1) He or she reasonably believes that such deadly 28 |
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| 43 | 43 | | force is necessary to protect himself, or herself or her 29 |
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| 44 | 44 | | unborn child, or another against death, serious physical 30 |
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| 45 | 45 | | injury, or any forcible felony; 31 |
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| 46 | 46 | | (2) Such force is used against a person who unlawfully 32 |
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| 47 | 47 | | enters, remains after unlawfully entering, or att empts to 33 |
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| 48 | 48 | | unlawfully enter a dwelling, residence, place of employment, 34 |
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| 49 | 49 | | or vehicle lawfully occupied by such person; or 35 |
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| 50 | 50 | | (3) Such force is used against a person who unlawfully 36 |
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| 51 | 51 | | enters, remains after unlawfully entering, or attempts to 37 |
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| 52 | 52 | | unlawfully enter private property that is owned or leased by 38 |
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| 53 | 53 | | an individual, or is occupied by an individual who has been 39 |
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| 54 | 54 | | given specific authority by the property owner to occupy the 40 |
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| 55 | 55 | | property, or is a retail establishment or other place of 41 |
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| 56 | 56 | | business wherein an individu al using such force has a right 42 |
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| 57 | 57 | | to be, claiming a justification of using protective force 43 |
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| 58 | 58 | | under this section. 44 |
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| 59 | 59 | | 3. A person does not have a duty to retreat: 45 |
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| 60 | 60 | | (1) From a dwelling, residence, place of employment, 46 |
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| 61 | 61 | | or vehicle where the person is no t unlawfully entering or 47 |
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| 62 | 62 | | unlawfully remaining; 48 |
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| 63 | 63 | | (2) From private property that is owned or leased by 49 |
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| 64 | 64 | | such individual; or 50 SB 122 3 |
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| 65 | 65 | | (3) If the person is in any other location such person 51 |
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| 66 | 66 | | has the right to be. 52 |
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| 67 | 67 | | 4. The justification afforded by this s ection extends 53 |
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| 68 | 68 | | to the use of physical restraint as protective force 54 |
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| 69 | 69 | | provided that the actor takes all reasonable measures to 55 |
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| 70 | 70 | | terminate the restraint as soon as it is reasonable to do so. 56 |
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| 71 | 71 | | 5. The defendant shall have the burden of injecting 57 |
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| 72 | 72 | | the issue of justification under this section. If a 58 |
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| 73 | 73 | | defendant asserts that his or her use of force is described 59 |
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| 74 | 74 | | under subdivision (2) of subsection 2 of this section, the 60 |
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| 75 | 75 | | burden shall then be on the state to prove beyond a 61 |
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| 76 | 76 | | reasonable doubt that the defendant did not reasonably 62 |
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| 77 | 77 | | believe that the use of such force was necessary to defend 63 |
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| 78 | 78 | | against what he or she reasonably believed was the use or 64 |
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| 79 | 79 | | imminent use of unlawful force. 65 |
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| 80 | 80 | | |
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