Delaware Code

11 Del. C. § 802 (2026)

Arson in the second degree; affirmative defense; class D felony

✓ current as of May 2026

Find cases: SyfertCases citing this section DE-DELCdelcode.delaware.gov JustiaTitle on Justia CornellLII Search CasesGoogle Scholar

(a) A person is guilty of arson in the second degree when the person intentionally damages a building by starting a fire or causing an explosion.

(b) In any prosecution under this section it is an affirmative defense that:

(1) No person other than the accused had a possessory or proprietary interest in the building, or if other persons had such interests, all of them consented to the accused’s conduct; and

(2) The accused’s sole intent was to destroy or damage the building for a lawful purpose; and

(3) The accused had no reasonable ground to believe that the conduct might endanger the life or safety of another person or damage another building.

Arson in the second degree is a class D felony.

11 Del. C. 1953, § 802; 58 Del. Laws, c. 497, § 1; 67 Del. Laws, c. 130, § 8; 70 Del. Laws, c. 186, § 1;

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 2 cases, 2013–2013 · leading case: Royce Brown v. John F. Caraway, 719 F.3d 583 (7th Cir. 2013).

Sort: Relevance Newest Treatment

Royce Brown v. John F. Caraway, 719 F.3d 583 (7th Cir. 2013). “11 Del. C. § 802(a). 4 . The ACCA’s residual clause is identical to that of the career offender Guideline.”

United States v. James Misleveck, 735 F.3d 983 (7th Cir. 2013). “Delaware punishes as arson in the second degree the arsonist who “intentionally damages a building by starting a fire or causing an explosion,” 11 Del.Code § 802(a), and this “squarely fits the ‘generic’ definition of arson as defined in Begay.”

— 11 Del. C. § 802(a) — 2 cases

Royce Brown v. John F. Caraway, 719 F.3d 583 (7th Cir. 2013). “11 Del. C. § 802(a). 4 . The ACCA’s residual clause is identical to that of the career offender Guideline.”

Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.