Delaware § 472 Mitigating factors and defenses based on a victim’s sexual orientation, sex, gender, gender identity, or sex assigned at birth

Delaware Statutes

§ 472 — Mitigating factors and defenses based on a victim’s sexual orientation, sex, gender, gender identity, or sex assigned at birth

Delaware § 472

Title11

PartDelaware Criminal Code

Ch. 4DEFENSES TO CRIMINAL LIABILITY

This text of Delaware § 472 (Mitigating factors and defenses based on a victim’s sexual orientation, sex, gender, gender identity, or sex assigned at birth) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Delaware primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook

Del. Code tit. 11, § 472 (2026).

Text

(a)Notwithstanding any other provision of this Criminal Code, in any prosecution or sentencing for an offense, a defendant is not justified in using force against another based on the discovery of, knowledge or belief about, or the potential or actual disclosure of the victim’s actual or perceived sexual orientation, sex, gender, gender identity, or sex assigned at birth.

(b)Notwithstanding any other provision of this Criminal Code, in any prosecution or sentencing for an offense, for the purposes of determining whether there is a reasonable explanation or excuse for the existence of extreme emotional disturbance or other asserted mitigating factor or circumstance, such explanation or excuse is not reasonable if it is based on the discovery of, knowledge or belief about, or the potentia

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(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Criminal Code, in any prosecution or sentencing for an offense, a defendant is not justified in using force against another based on the discovery of, knowledge or belief about, or the potential or actual disclosure of the victim’s actual or perceived sexual orientation, sex, gender, gender identity, or sex assigned at birth.

(b) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Criminal Code, in any prosecution or sentencing for an offense, for the purposes of determining whether there is a reasonable explanation or excuse for the existence of extreme emotional disturbance or other asserted mitigating factor or circumstance, such explanation or excuse is not reasonable if it is based on the discovery of, knowledge or belief about, or the potential or actual disclosure of the victim’s actual or perceived sexual orientation, sex, gender, gender identity, or sex assigned at birth.

(c) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Criminal Code, in any prosecution or sentencing for an offense, a defendant does not, based on the discovery of, knowledge or belief about, or the potential or actual disclosure of the victim’s actual or perceived sexual orientation, sex, gender, gender identity, or sex assigned at birth, suffer from a mental illness, mental defect, mental disorder, serious mental disorder, psychiatric disorder, or other impairment affecting or impacting the defendant’s mental state relating to questions of any of the following:

(1) Intent.

(2) Knowledge.

(3) Capacity to appreciate the wrongfulness of the defendant’s conduct.

(4) Disturbance of the defendant’s thinking, feeling, or behavior.

(5) Culpability.

(6) Willpower to choose whether to do or refrain from doing an act.

(7) Ability to distinguish right from wrong.