The Vermont Statutes Online
The Statutes below include the actions of the 2025 session of the General Assembly.
NOTE: The Vermont Statutes Online is an unofficial copy of the Vermont Statutes Annotated that is provided as a convenience.
(Cite as: 13 V.S.A. § 2305)
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§ 2305. Justifiable homicide
(a) If a person kills or wounds another under any of the circumstances enumerated below,
the person shall be guiltless:
(1) in the just and necessary defense of the person’s own life or the life of any other
person;
(2) if the person reasonably believed that the person, or any other person, was in imminent
peril and that it was necessary to repel that peril with deadly force in the forceful
or violent suppression of a person attempting to commit murder, sexual assault, aggravated
sexual assault, burglary, or robbery; or
(3) in the case of a law enforcement officer as defined in 20 V.S.A. § 2351(a) using force in compliance with 20 V.S.A. § 2368(b)(1)–(2) and (5) or deadly force in compliance with 20 V.S.A. § 2368(c)(1)–(4) and (6).
(b) This section shall not be construed to limit or infringe upon defenses granted at
common law. (Amended 1983, No. 23, § 2; 2019, No. 165 (Adj. Sess.), § 2, eff. July 1, 2021; 2021, No. 27, § 4, eff. Oct. 1, 2021; 2021, No. 95 (Adj. Sess.), § 1, eff. April 21, 2022.)