45-3-102. Use of force in defense of person. A person is justified in the use of force or threat to use force against another when and to the extent that the person reasonably believes that the conduct is necessary for self-defense or the defense of another against the other person's imminent use of unlawful force. However, the person is justified in the use of force likely to cause death or serious bodily harm only if the person reasonably believes that the force is necessary to prevent imminent death or serious bodily harm to the person or another or to prevent the commission of a forcible felony.
Montana Code Annotated
Mont. Code Ann. § 45-3-102 (2026)
Use Of Force In Defense Of Person
✓ current as of May 2026
Find cases:
SyfertCases citing this section
MT-LEGleg.mt.gov
JustiaTitle on Justia
CornellLII Search
CasesGoogle Scholar
TITLE 45. CRIMES
CHAPTER 3. JUSTIFIABLE USE OF FORCE
Part 1. When Force Justified
Use Of Force In Defense Of Person
History: En. 94-3-102 by Sec. 1, Ch. 513, L. 1973; R.C.M. 1947, 94-3-102; amd. Sec. 1643, Ch. 56, L. 2009.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 62
cases (7 in the last 5 years), 1979–2025 · leading case: State v. Archambault, 2007 MT 26 (Mont. 2007).
State v. Archambault, 2007 MT 26 (Mont. 2007). “A person is justified in the use of force or threat to use force against another when and to the extent that he reasonably believes that such conduct is necessary to defend himself or another against such other's imminent use of unlawful force.”
State v. J. Lackman, 2017 MT 127 (Mont. 2017). “” Section 45-3-102, MCA. The District Court refused this instruction.”
State v. Daniels, 682 P.2d 173 (Mont. 1984). “It was necessary therefore for the District Court to guide the jury with instructions on deliberate homicide, section 45-5-102, MCA, mitigated deliberate homicide, section 45-5-103, MCA, and justifiable use of force, section 45-3-102, MCA. The court also instructed on negligent…”
State v. Courville, 2002 MT 330 (Mont. 2002). “This instruction paraphrases the statute regarding self defense, § 45-3-102, MCA (when use of force justified in defense of the person).”
State v. Bashor, 614 P.2d 470 (Mont. 1980). “Section 45-3-102, MCA. This statute says, in part, that a person may use deadly force to protect himself to prevent ".”
State v. Graves, 622 P.2d 203 (Mont. 1981). “In other words, if you have a reasonable doubt whether or not the defendant acted in self-defense, your verdict must be not guilty." This Court has been faced with numerous cases challenging self-defense instructions in recent years.”
State v. Kaarma, 2017 MT 24 (Mont. 2017). “He argued that § 45-3-102, MCA, defense of person, requires a commensurate response to the nature of the threat, where defense of an occupied structure only requires the actor’s reasonable belief that the use of force was necessary to terminate the unlawful entry.”
State v. Sattler, 1998 MT 57 (Mont. 1998). “Pursuant to § 45-3-102, MCA, a person is justified in using force against another when and to the extent that he reasonably believes that such conduct is necessary to defend himself .”
State v. W. Cunningham, 2018 MT 56 (Mont. 2018). “Cunningham's alcohol concentration, taken less than two hours after his altercation with Horn, was 0.217. The State charged Cunningham by Information with deliberate homicide, § 45-5-102, MCA, and a weapons enhancement, § 46-18-221, MCA.”
State v. Sunday, 609 P.2d 1188 (Mont. 1980). “Section 45-3-102, MCA. Self-defense is to be judged in terms of the apparent danger which the defendant perceived, as a reasonable person, rather than in terms of the danger actually confronting him.”
State v. McCaslin, 2004 MT 212 (Mont. 2004). “¶43 In asserting that there was insufficient evidence to support his conviction of Counts I and III, McCaslin cites to testimony to support his contention that he did not "purposely or knowingly" cause bodily harm to either Turner or Tolman.”
State v. Branham, 2012 MT 1 (Mont. 2012). “Section 45-3-102, MCA, provides: A person is justified in the use of force or threat to use force against another when and to the extent that the person reasonably believes that the conduct is necessary for self-defense or the defense of another against the other person’s…”
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.