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Ark. Code Ann. § 5-2-606

Use of physical force in defense of a person

Applied in 8 court decisions — leading case Thacker v. State (2016)

Most recently applied in 2023 Ark. App. 503 - George Gitchell v. State of Arkansas (November 2023)

Acts 1975, No. 280, § 506; A.S.A. 1947, § 41-506; Acts 2007, No. 827, § 13.

How often courts cite this section

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Court decisions citing this, by year. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.

(1) A person is justified in using physical force upon another person to defend himself or herself or a third person from what the person reasonably believes to be the use or imminent use of unlawful physical force by that other person, and the person may use a degree of force that he or she reasonably believes to be necessary.

(2) However, the person may not use deadly physical force except as provided in § 5-2-607.

(3) A person is not justified in using physical force upon another person if: With purpose to cause physical injury or death to the other person, the person provokes the use of unlawful physical force by the other person;

(4) The person is the initial aggressor.

(5) However, the initial aggressor's use of physical force upon another person is justifiable if: The initial aggressor in good faith withdraws from the encounter and effectively communicates to the other person his or her purpose to withdraw from the encounter; and

(6) The other person continues or threatens to continue the use of unlawful physical force; or

(7) The physical force involved is the product of a combat by agreement not authorized by law.

Current official text: Arkansas General Assembly. Digitized from the UniCourt Code Improvement Commission public-domain capture. Reproduced from public-domain Arkansas statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.