I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 7716 

To establish defenses against crimes of violence, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 21, 2020 

Mr. SMITH of Missouri (for himself, Mr. GRAVES of Missouri, Mr. LONG, and 

Mr. LUETKEMEYER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to 

the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To establish defenses against crimes of violence, and for 

other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘American Family and 

5 Private Property Defense Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFENSES AGAINST CRIMES OF VIOLENCE. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 1 of title 18, United 

8 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol9 lowing: 


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1 ‘‘§ 28. Defense of self or others 

2 ‘‘(a) DEFENSE.— 

3 ‘‘(1) JUSTIFIABLE USE OF FORCE.—It is an af4 firmative defense against any charge for a crime of 

5 violence that the defendant only used physical force 

6 upon another person to the extent that the defend7 ant reasonably believed such force to be necessary to 

8 defend the defendant or a third person from what 

9 the defendant reasonably believes to be the use or 

10 imminent use of unlawful force by such other per11 son. 

12 ‘‘(2) JUSTIFIABLE USE OF DEADLY FORCE.—It 

13 is an affirmative defense against any charge for a 

14 crime of violence that the defendant only used dead15 ly force upon another person— 

16 ‘‘(A) to the extent that the defendant rea17 sonably believed such force to be necessary to 

18 defend the defendant or a third person from 

19 what the defendant reasonably believes to be 

20 the use or imminent use of unlawful force by 

21 such other person; 

22 ‘‘(B) if such person unlawfully enters, re23 mains after unlawfully entering, or attempts to 

24 unlawfully enter a dwelling, residence, or vehicle 

25 lawfully occupied by such person; or 


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1 ‘‘(C) if such person unlawfully enters, re2 mains after unlawfully entering, or attempts to 

3 unlawfully enter private property that is owned 

4 or leased by an individual, or is occupied by an 

5 individual who has been given specific authority 

6 by the property owner to occupy the property, 

7 claiming a justification of using protective force 

8 under this section. 

9 ‘‘(3) NO DUTY TO RETREAT.—The defendant 

10 has no duty to retreat— 

11 ‘‘(A) from a dwelling, residence, or vehicle 

12 where the person is not unlawfully entering or 

13 unlawfully remaining; 

14 ‘‘(B) from private property that is owned 

15 or leased by such individual; or 

16 ‘‘(C) if the defendant is in any other loca17 tion such defendant has the right to be. 

18 ‘‘(b) APPLICATION.— 

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A defense under subsection 

20 (a) shall not apply if the defendant is the initial ag21 gressor, unless— 

22 ‘‘(A) the defendant has withdrawn from 

23 the encounter and effectively communicated 

24 such withdrawal to such other person but the 


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1 latter persists in continuing the incident by the 

2 use or threatened use of unlawful force; 

3 ‘‘(B) the defendant is a law enforcement 

4 officer; or 

5 ‘‘(C) the aggressor’s actions are justified 

6 under any other provision of law. 

7 ‘‘(2) THIRD PARTY.—A defense under sub8 section (a) shall not apply if, under the circum9 stances as the defendant reasonably believes them to 

10 be, the person whom the defendant is seeking to pro11 tect would not be justified in using such protective 

12 force. 

13 ‘‘(3) FELONY.—The defendant was attempting 

14 to commit, committing, or escaping after the com15 mission of a forcible felony. 

16 ‘‘(c) PHYSICAL RESTRAINT.—The defenses under 

17 this section shall extend to the use of physical restraint 

18 as protective force provided that the defendant takes all 

19 reasonable measures to terminate the restraint as soon as 

20 it is reasonable to do so. 

21 ‘‘(d) BURDEN.—The defendant shall have the burden 

22 of raising any defense under this section. If a defendant 

23 asserts that defendant’s use of force is described under 

24 subsection (a)(2), the burden shall then be on the Govern25 ment to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:04 Aug 23, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7716.IH H7716

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1 ant did not reasonably believe that the use of such force 

2 was necessary to defend against what the defendant rea3 sonably believed was the use or imminent use of unlawful 

4 force. 

5 ‘‘§ 29. Defense of property 

6 ‘‘(a) DEFENSE.—It is an affirmative defense against 

7 any charge for a crime of violence that the defendant only 

8 used physical force upon another person to the extent that 

9 the defendant reasonably believed such force to be nec10 essary to prevent what the defendant reasonably believes 

11 to be the commission or attempted commission by such 

12 person of stealing, property damage or tampering in any 

13 degree. 

14 ‘‘(b) APPLICATION.—A defense under subsection (a) 

15 shall not apply if the defendant uses deadly force unless 

16 authorized under subsection (a). 

17 ‘‘(c) PHYSICAL RESTRAINT.—The defenses under 

18 this section shall extend to the use of physical restraint 

19 as protective force provided that the defendant takes all 

20 reasonable measures to terminate the restraint as soon as 

21 it is reasonable to do so. 

22 ‘‘(d) BURDEN.—The defendant shall have the burden 

23 of raising any defense under this section. 


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1 ‘‘§ 30. Battered spouse defense 

2 ‘‘(a) DEFENSE.—Evidence that the actor was suf3 fering from the battered spouse syndrome shall be admis4 sible upon the issue of whether the actor lawfully acted 

5 in self-defense or defense of another. 

6 ‘‘(b) PROCEDURE.—If the defendant proposes to 

7 offer evidence of the battered spouse syndrome, the de8 fendant shall file written notice thereof with the court in 

9 advance of trial. Thereafter, the court, upon motion of 

10 the Government, shall appoint one or more private psychi11 atrists or psychologists or physicians with a minimum of 

12 one year of training or experience in providing treatment 

13 or services to intellectually disabled or mentally ill individ14 uals, who are neither employees nor contractors of the de15 partment of mental health for the purposes of performing 

16 the examination in question, to examine the accused, or 

17 shall direct the director of the department of mental 

18 health, or his designee, to have the accused so examined 

19 by one or more psychiatrists or psychologists or physicians 

20 with a minimum of one year of training or experience in 

21 providing treatment or services to intellectually disabled 

22 or mentally ill individuals designated by the director, or 

23 his designee, for the purpose of examining the defendant. 

24 No private psychiatrist, psychologist, or physician shall 

25 be appointed by the court unless he has consented to act. 

26 The examinations ordered shall be made at such time 


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1 and place and under such conditions as the court deems 

2 proper, except that if the order directs the director of the 

3 department of mental health to have the accused exam4 ined, the director, or his designee, shall determine the rea5 sonable time, place and conditions under which the exam6 ination shall be conducted. The order may include provi7 sions for the interview of witnesses. 

8 ‘‘(c) EXCLUDING CERTAIN EVIDENCE.—No state9 ment made by the accused in the course of any such exam10 ination and no information received by any physician or 

11 other person in the course thereof, whether such examina12 tion was made with or without the consent of the accused 

13 or upon his motion or upon that of others, shall be admit14 ted in evidence against the accused on the issue of whether 

15 he committed the act charged against him in any criminal 

16 proceeding then or thereafter pending in any Federal 

17 court.’’. 

18 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

19 for chapter 1 of title 18, United States Code, is amended 

20 by adding at the end the following: 

‘‘28. Defense of self or others. 

‘‘29. Defense of property. 

‘‘30. Battered spouse defense.’’. 

Æ 


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