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Vt. Stat. Ann. tit. 13, § 2305

Justifiable homicide

Amended 1983, No. 23, § 2; 2019, No. 165 (Adj

(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.

Official source: Vermont General Assembly. Reproduced from public-domain Vermont statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.