Florida Statutes

Fla. Stat. § 782.11 (2025)

Unnecessary killing to prevent unlawful act.

✓ 2025 Florida Statutes — current through the 2025 Regular Session
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782.11 Unnecessary killing to prevent unlawful act.Whoever shall unnecessarily kill another, either while resisting an attempt by such other person to commit any felony, or to do any other unlawful act, or after such attempt shall have failed, shall be deemed guilty of manslaughter, a felony of the second degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084.
History.s. 13, ch. 1637, 1868; RS 2388; GS 3213; RGS 5043; CGL 7145; s. 719, ch. 71-136.

Arrestable Offenses under F.S. 782.11

M = misdemeanor · F = felony · degree: F=1st S=2nd T=3rd
§782.11HOMICIDE-NEGLIG MANSLUNNECESSARY KILLING TO PREVENT UNLAWFUL ACTF · 2nd
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 21 cases (1 in the last 5 years), 1971–2024 · leading case: Cobb v. State, 376 So. 2d 230 (Fla. 1979).
Cobb v. State, 376 So. 2d 230 (Fla. 1979). · cites it 8× “[1] The court directly and initially passed on the validity of section 782.11, Florida Statutes (1975), which makes it a second-degree felony to unnecessarily kill another, either while resisting an attempt by such other person to commit any felony, or to do any other *231…”
William D. Cobb v. Louie L. Wainwright, Sec'y, Dep't of Offender Rehab., 666 F.2d 966 (5th Cir. 1982). · cites it 12× “Cobb was convicted by a jury in Florida district court of unnecessarily killing to prevent an unlawful act in violation of Fla.Stat. § 782.11 (1975) and was sentenced to fifteen years imprisonment.”
State v. Carrizales, 356 So. 2d 274 (Fla. 1978). · cites it 11× “NOTES [1] § 782.11, Fla. Stat. (1975), reads as follows: "Unnecessary killing to prevent unlawful act.”
Hoffman v. State, 708 So. 2d 962 (Fla. 5th DCA 1998). · cites it 5× “Alternatively, appellant argues that, pursuant to section 782.11, Florida Statutes (1994), [1] the motion for judgment of acquittal should have been granted on the murder charge sending only a manslaughter charge to the jury.”
Carrizales v. State, 345 So. 2d 1113 (Fla. 2d DCA 1977). · cites it 11× “Appellant contends that the trial court erred in refusing to instruct the jury on Section 782.11, Florida Statutes, which provides that when a defendant unnecessarily kills another while resisting the other person’s attempt to commit a felony or do any other unlawful act, the…”
Falco v. State, 407 So. 2d 203 (Fla. 1981). · cites it 4× “Cobb involved a vagueness challenge against section 782.11, Florida Statutes, which makes it a felony to "unnecessarily kill another, either while resisting an attempt by such other person to commit any felony, or to do any other unlawful act, or after such attempt shall have…”
State v. Kadet, 455 So. 2d 389 (Fla. 5th DCA 1984). · cites it 14× “The state appeals from an order dismissing an indictment which had charged Officer Edward Kadet with unnecessary killing to prevent an unlawful act, a violation of section 782.11, Florida Statutes (1981). The court below found that the facts presented did not constitute a prima…”
Mitchell v. State, 368 So. 2d 607 (Fla. 3d DCA 1979). · cites it 13× “07, Florida Statutes) and (2) manslaughter by unnecessary killing to prevent an unlawful act (in violation of Section 782.11, Florida Statutes). After a jury trial, appellant was acquitted of the charge of manslaughter under Section 782.”
Phippen v. State, 389 So. 2d 991 (Fla. 1980). · cites it 2× “The judge gave the jury standard instructions which accurately and comprehensively reflected the law of manslaughter.”
Whitehead v. State, 245 So. 2d 94 (Fla. 2d DCA 1971). · cites it 4× “We further observe that correlatively the provisions of § 782.11, F.S.A., are also applicable to this case.”
Rodriguez v. State, 443 So. 2d 286 (Fla. 3d DCA 1983). · cites it 2× “(1981)), unnecessary killing to prevent an unlawful act (§ 782.11, Fla. Stat. (1981)), and killing someone while driving while intoxicated (§ 316.”
White v. State, 666 So. 2d 895 (Fla. 1996). “§ 782.11 (unnecessary killing to prevent an unlawful act).”
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.

This Florida statute resource is curated by Graham W. Syfert, a Jacksonville, Florida criminal defense attorney (Florida Bar No. 39104). Attorney Syfert regularly handles Chapter 782 matters in the context of homicide and serious felony defense and represents clients throughout Northeast Florida. For legal consultation, call 904-383-7448.