Alabama Statutes

§ 13A-3-23 — Use of Force in Defense of a Person

Alabama § 13A-3-23
JurisdictionAlabama
Title 13ACriminal Code
Ch. 3Defenses
Art. 2Justification and Excuse

This text of Alabama § 13A-3-23 (Use of Force in Defense of a Person) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Alabama primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Ala. Code § 13A-3-23 (2026).

Text

(a)A person is justified in using physical force upon another person in order to defend himself or herself or a third person from what he or she reasonably believes to be the use or imminent use of unlawful physical force by that other person, and he or she may use a degree of force which he or she reasonably believes to be necessary for the purpose. A person may use deadly physical force, and is legally presumed to be justified in using deadly physical force in self-defense or the defense of another person pursuant to subdivision (5), if the person reasonably believes that another person is:
(1)Using or about to use unlawful deadly physical force.
(2)Using or about to use physical force against an occupant of a dwelling while committing or attempting to commit a burglary of such dwelli

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Related

Morris v. Town of Lexington Alabama
748 F.3d 1316 (Eleventh Circuit, 2014)
55 case citations
Raines v. State
455 So. 2d 967 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama, 1984)
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Austin v. State
555 So. 2d 324 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama, 1989)
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Young v. Myhrer
243 F. Supp. 3d 1243 (N.D. Alabama, 2017)
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Oden v. Headley (INMATE 3)
(M.D. Alabama, 2022)
Mills v. State
129 So. 3d 1041 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama, 2013)
State v. Watson
221 So. 3d 497 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama, 2016)
McLeod v. United States
(S.D. Alabama, 2025)
Kuponiyi v. Strickland
(N.D. Alabama, 2021)
United States v. Christopher Weaver
(Eleventh Circuit, 2023)
United States v. Michael Robinson
(Eleventh Circuit, 2024)

Legislative History

(Acts 1977, No. 607, p. 812, §610; Acts 1979, No. 79-599, p. 1060, §1; Act 2006-303, p. 638, §1; Act 2013-283, p. 938, §8; Act 2016-420, §1.)

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Bluebook (online)
Alabama § 13A-3-23, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/statute/al/13A-3-23.