Self-Defense Laws in New Jersey

New Jersey has a duty to retreat in public. Deadly force is not justifiable if the actor knows that he can avoid the necessity of using such force with complete safety by retreating, except that the actor is not obliged to retreat from his dwelling, unless he was the initial aggressor (§ 2C:3-4(b)(2)(b)). Deadly force is also not justifiable if the actor, with the purpose of causing death or serious bodily harm, provoked the use of force against himself in the same encounter (§ 2C:3-4(b)(2)(a)).

Notwithstanding the general self-defense limits, the use of force or deadly force upon or toward an intruder who is unlawfully in a dwelling is justifiable when the actor reasonably believes that the force is immediately necessary for the purpose of protecting himself or other persons in the dwelling against the use of unlawful force by the intruder on the present occasion (§ 2C:3-4(c)(1)). A reasonable belief exists when the actor, to protect himself or a third person, was in his own dwelling and the encounter with the intruder was sudden and unexpected, compelling the actor to act instantly, or the actor reasonably believed the intruder would inflict personal injury on the actor or others in the dwelling, or the actor demanded that the intruder disarm, surrender or withdraw, and the intruder refused to do so (§ 2C:3-4(c)(2)). The actor may estimate the necessity of using force without retreating, surrendering possession, withdrawing or doing any other act which he has no legal duty to do (§ 2C:3-4(c)(3)).