Florida Statute 776.31 - Full Text and Legal Analysis

The 2025 Florida Statutes

Title XLVI
CRIMES

Chapter 776
JUSTIFIABLE USE OF FORCE

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F.S. 776.031

776.031 Use or threatened use of force in defense of property.—

(1) A person is justified in using or threatening to use force, except deadly force, against another when and to the extent that the person reasonably believes that such conduct is necessary to prevent or terminate the other’s trespass on, or other tortious or criminal interference with, either real property other than a dwelling or personal property, lawfully in his or her possession or in the possession of another who is a member of his or her immediate family or household or of a person whose property he or she has a legal duty to protect. A person who uses or threatens to use force in accordance with this subsection does not have a duty to retreat before using or threatening to use such force.

(2) A person is justified in using or threatening to use deadly force only if he or she reasonably believes that such conduct is necessary to prevent the imminent commission of a forcible felony. A person who uses or threatens to use deadly force in accordance with this subsection does not have a duty to retreat and has the right to stand his or her ground if the person using or threatening to use the deadly force is not engaged in a criminal activity and is in a place where he or she has a right to be.

History.—s. 13, ch. 74-383; s. 1189, ch. 97-102; s. 3, ch. 2005-27; s. 5, ch. 2014-195.

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Amendments to 776.031

Annotations, Discussions, Cases:

Cases Citing Statute 776.031

Total Results: 33

In Re Standard Jury Inst. in Crim. Cases No. 2007-03

976 So. 2d 1081, 2008 WL 596805

Supreme Court of Florida | Filed: Mar 6, 2008 | Docket: 1679907

Cited 57 times | Published

ready to take place. In defense of property. § 776.031, Fla. Stat. Give if applicable. (Defendant) would

WILLIE JEFFERSON v. STATE OF FLORIDA

264 So. 3d 1019

District Court of Appeal of Florida | Filed: Dec 28, 2018 | Docket: 8462501

Cited 22 times | Published

[section] 776.012, [section] 776.013, or [section] 776.031 is justified in using such force and is immune

Falco v. State

407 So. 2d 203

Supreme Court of Florida | Filed: Dec 17, 1981 | Docket: 1515369

Cited 21 times | Published

commission of a forcible felony. Similarly, section 776.031, entitled "Use of force in defense of others"

In Re Jury Inst. in Cr. Cases (No. 2005-4)

930 So. 2d 612, 2006 WL 1471998

Supreme Court of Florida | Filed: May 25, 2006 | Docket: 1469355

Cited 19 times | Published

ready to take place. In defense of property. § 776.031, Fla. Stat. Give if applicable. (Defendant) would

Viera v. State

163 So. 3d 602, 2015 Fla. App. LEXIS 5039, 2015 WL 1578849

District Court of Appeal of Florida | Filed: Apr 8, 2015 | Docket: 2647537

Cited 11 times | Published

Viera is not immune from prosecution under section 776.031-.032, Florida Statutes (2011) and deny the

Little v. State

111 So. 3d 214, 2013 WL 1442150, 2013 Fla. App. LEXIS 5670

District Court of Appeal of Florida | Filed: Apr 10, 2013 | Docket: 60230777

Cited 11 times | Published

permitted in section 776.012, section 776.013, or section 776.031, it should be construed to allow a defendant

In Re Standard Jury Instructions in Criminal Cases-Report No. 2009-01

27 So. 3d 640, 35 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 1, 2010 Fla. LEXIS 2, 2010 WL 26546

Supreme Court of Florida | Filed: Jan 7, 2010 | Docket: 1665256

Cited 9 times | Published

ready to take place. In defense of property. § 776.031, Fla. Stat. Give if applicable. (Defendant) would

McDaniel v. State

24 So. 3d 654, 2009 Fla. App. LEXIS 19299, 2009 WL 4723310

District Court of Appeal of Florida | Filed: Dec 11, 2009 | Docket: 77385

Cited 9 times | Published

commonly known as the castle doctrine, and section 776.031, the defense of others statute. McDaniel further

Standard Jury Inst. in Crim. Cases (2006-3)

947 So. 2d 1159, 32 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 49, 2007 Fla. LEXIS 119, 2007 WL 174332

Supreme Court of Florida | Filed: Jan 25, 2007 | Docket: 1720507

Cited 8 times | Published

ready to take place. In defense of property. § 776.031, Fla. Stat. Give if applicable. (Defendant) would

Garrido v. State

97 So. 3d 291, 2012 WL 3964751, 2012 Fla. App. LEXIS 15315

District Court of Appeal of Florida | Filed: Sep 12, 2012 | Docket: 60311753

Cited 5 times | Published

property. The standard instruction is based upon section 776.031, Florida Statutes (2010).1 The trial court

Gray v. State

13 So. 3d 114, 2009 Fla. App. LEXIS 6552, 2009 WL 1490835

District Court of Appeal of Florida | Filed: May 29, 2009 | Docket: 1659427

Cited 5 times | Published

immunity from criminal prosecution afforded in section 776.031(1), Florida Statutes (2007) (commonly known

State of Florida v. Robert Franklin Floyd

186 So. 3d 1013, 41 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 85, 2016 Fla. LEXIS 502, 2016 WL 916224

Supreme Court of Florida | Filed: Mar 10, 2016 | Docket: 3043381

Cited 4 times | Published

776.013(3), Fla. Stat. (2010). Finally, section 776.031, “Use of force in defense of others,” justifies

Byers v. Radiant Group, LLC

966 So. 2d 506, 2007 WL 3034856

District Court of Appeal of Florida | Filed: Oct 19, 2007 | Docket: 1271871

Cited 4 times | Published

justifiably use force against another in self-defense); § 776.031 (delineating the circumstances in which an individual

Eady v. State

229 So. 3d 434

District Court of Appeal of Florida | Filed: Oct 20, 2017 | Docket: 6173165

Cited 2 times | Published

permitted in .section 776.012, section 776.013, or section 776.031. Here, Eady raised his theory of self-defense

Jared Bretherick v. State of Florida

170 So. 3d 766, 40 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 411, 2015 WL 4112414, 2015 Fla. LEXIS 1470

Supreme Court of Florida | Filed: Jul 9, 2015 | Docket: 2672540

Cited 2 times | Published

force as permitted in § 776.012, § 776.013, or § 776.031[4] is justified in using such *772force and is

Govoni v. State

17 So. 3d 809, 2009 Fla. App. LEXIS 14919, 2009 WL 2516939

District Court of Appeal of Florida | Filed: Oct 7, 2009 | Docket: 1645486

Cited 2 times | Published

force was necessary under the circumstances. See § 776.031, Fla. Stat. (2008). The circuit judge noted that

In Re Standard Jury Instructions in Criminal Cases—report No. 2014-06

191 So. 3d 411, 2016 WL 2586287

Supreme Court of Florida | Filed: May 5, 2016 | Docket: 3061091

Cited 1 times | Published

to take place. In defense of property. § 776.031(1), Fla. Stat. Give if applicable. (Defendant)

Harvey M. Hill v. State

143 So. 3d 981, 2014 WL 3434445, 2014 Fla. App. LEXIS 10884

District Court of Appeal of Florida | Filed: Jul 16, 2014 | Docket: 2206

Cited 1 times | Published

in a place they have the right to be), and section 776.031 (defense of others). In granting the original

Tover v. State

106 So. 3d 958, 2013 WL 238168, 2013 Fla. App. LEXIS 931

District Court of Appeal of Florida | Filed: Jan 23, 2013 | Docket: 60228504

Cited 1 times | Published

statutory immunity from prosecution under section 776.031. In Joseph, we found that the appropriate standard

Nima Moradi v. State of Florida

District Court of Appeal of Florida | Filed: Jan 10, 2025 | Docket: 69533867

Published

prevent the commission of a forcible felony.”); § 776.031, Fla. Stat. (2012) (“A person is justified in

CARLOS LORENZO GONZALEZ v. STATE OF FLORIDA

District Court of Appeal of Florida | Filed: Apr 19, 2024 | Docket: 68452489

Published

24 § 776.012(2), Fla. Stat. (2014). Section 776.031, Florida Statutes, entitled “Use or threatened

Katina Paese v. State of Florida

District Court of Appeal of Florida | Filed: Feb 28, 2024 | Docket: 68290564

Published

from prosecution. Compare § 776.031(1), Fla. Stat. (2020), with § 776.031(2), Fla. Stat. (2020).

RICHARD BURNS v. STATE OF FLORIDA

District Court of Appeal of Florida | Filed: May 24, 2023 | Docket: 67419170

Published

dogs, which are his personal property. 4 See § 776.031(1), Fla. Stat. (2020) (justifying the use or threatened

In Re: Standard Jury Instructions in Criminal Cases - Report 2019-01

Supreme Court of Florida | Filed: Dec 19, 2019 | Docket: 16761659

Published

instructed on either § 776.012(2), Fla. Stat., or § 776.031(2), Fla. Stat. The words within the second set

MAX GARCIA v. STATE OF FLORIDA

District Court of Appeal of Florida | Filed: Nov 27, 2019 | Docket: 16523188

Published

Melchild's initial use of force was lawful. Section 776.031(1) governs the use of nondeadly force in defense

In Re: Standard Jury Instructions in Criminal Cases - Report 2017-07 – Corrected Opinion

Supreme Court of Florida | Filed: Dec 6, 2018 | Docket: 8347874

Published

instructed on either § 776.012(2), Fla. Stat., or § 776.031(2), Fla. Stat. The words within the second set

In Re: Standard Jury Instructions in Criminal Cases-Report 2017-07.

257 So. 3d 908

Supreme Court of Florida | Filed: Nov 21, 2018 | Docket: 8221109

Published

the right to be there while § 776.012(1), and § 776.031(2), Fla. Stat., cover other situations. The Committee

Marty v. State

210 So. 3d 121, 2016 Fla. App. LEXIS 13927

District Court of Appeal of Florida | Filed: Sep 16, 2016 | Docket: 4422973

Published

real property ... or personal property.” § 776.031(1) (emphasis added). The jury found Marty

Gerlo Ulysse v. State of Florida

174 So. 3d 464, 2015 Fla. App. LEXIS 11957, 2015 WL 4747361

District Court of Appeal of Florida | Filed: Aug 12, 2015 | Docket: 2683575

Published

force. .... In defense of property. § 776.031, Fla. Stat. . . . (Defendant) would be justified

Brown v. State

135 So. 3d 1160, 2014 WL 1612649, 2014 Fla. App. LEXIS 5853

District Court of Appeal of Florida | Filed: Apr 22, 2014 | Docket: 60239451

Published

section 776.012; by section 776.013; or by section 776.031. For all three avenues, the 2005 amendments/enactments

Mann v. State

135 So. 3d 450, 2014 WL 1094617, 2014 Fla. App. LEXIS 4171

District Court of Appeal of Florida | Filed: Mar 21, 2014 | Docket: 60239645

Published

An affirmative defense that arises out of section 776.031, Florida Statutes, concerns a defendant’s justifiable

Carranza v. State

511 So. 2d 410, 12 Fla. L. Weekly 1875, 1987 Fla. App. LEXIS 9667

District Court of Appeal of Florida | Filed: Aug 5, 1987 | Docket: 64628922

Published

involved the element of defense of another. Section 776.031, Florida Statutes, provides that one is justified

State v. Ferguson

390 So. 2d 190, 1980 Fla. App. LEXIS 23283

District Court of Appeal of Florida | Filed: Nov 25, 1980 | Docket: 64578833

Published

PER CURIAM. Affirmed. § 776.031, Fla.Stat. (1979); State v. Smith, 376 So.2d 261 (Fla.3d DCA 1979).