Delaware Code Annotated
Title 11 Crimes and Criminal Procedure (Pts. I — VII)
Part I Delaware Criminal Code (Chs. 1 — 15)
Chapter 4 Defenses to Criminal Liability (§§ 401 — 477)

§ 469. Justification — Person unlawfully in dwelling.

In the prosecution of an occupant of a dwelling charged with killing or injuring an intruder who was unlawfully in said dwelling, it shall be a defense that the occupant was in the occupant’s own dwelling at the time of the offense, and:
(1) The encounter between the occupant and intruder was sudden and unexpected, compelling the occupant to act instantly; or
(2) The occupant reasonably believed that the intruder would inflict personal injury upon the occupant or others in the dwelling; or
(3) The occupant demanded that the intruder disarm or surrender, and the intruder refused to do so.

 

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