Self-Defense Laws in Hawaii

Hawaii has a duty to retreat outside the home and workplace. Deadly force is not justifiable if 'The actor knows that he can avoid the necessity of using such force with complete safety by retreating' or by surrendering possession of a thing to a person asserting a claim of right to it, or by complying with a demand to abstain from an action he has no duty to take — except that the actor is not obliged to retreat from his dwelling or place of work, unless he was the initial aggressor or is assailed in his place of work by another person whose place of work the actor knows it to be.

No duty to retreat from one's dwelling or place of work unless the actor was the initial aggressor (or, at work, is assailed by a co-worker at their shared place of work) (§ 703-304(5)(b)(i)). Deadly force for the protection of property is justifiable only if the person is attempting to dispossess the actor of the actor's dwelling otherwise than under a claim of right to its possession, or is attempting to commit felonious property damage, burglary, robbery or felonious theft and either has employed or threatened deadly force against or in the presence of the actor, or using less than deadly force would expose the actor or another person present to substantial danger of serious bodily injury (§ 703-306(3)).