Self-Defense Laws in New York

Is New York a stand your ground state?

No, but the label obscures more than it explains. New York imposes a duty to retreat only before using deadly physical force, and only when you actually know you can retreat in complete safety. There is no duty to retreat before using ordinary physical force at all, and there is an exception for your own home.

The practical difference from a state like Florida is narrower than the phrase suggests. What Florida also has, and New York does not, is a pretrial immunity hearing: a separate proceeding where a defendant can have the case thrown out before trial, with the state carrying a clear and convincing burden to defeat it. New York has no equivalent under article 35. Here, justification is litigated through motions, evidence and the jury charge inside the ordinary criminal case.

Does New York have a castle doctrine?

Yes, a limited one. Under Penal Law 35.15(2)(a)(i), the duty to retreat before using deadly physical force does not apply when you are in your dwelling and were not the initial aggressor.

Note how narrow that language is, because this is where people go wrong:

• It says dwelling, not property. A car is not ordinarily a dwelling. A workplace is not automatically one either, even if you own it.
• A porch or a yard is fact-specific. An enclosed, attached, functionally integrated space is treated differently from an open yard or a shared exterior area. The statute lists none of these.
• It is not limited to intruders. New York appellate authority has applied the dwelling exception even where the other person also lived there, at least where the space in question was part of the defendant’s dwelling rather than a common area.
• The initial aggressor limit still applies. Being at home does not help you if you started it.

The accurate description is a dwelling-based exception to the retreat rule, not a general rule that you may stand your ground anywhere you own.

When can you use ordinary physical force?

Under Penal Law 35.15(1), you may use physical force, and only as much force as you reasonably believe is necessary, to defend yourself or someone else from what you reasonably believe is the use or imminent use of unlawful physical force.

Three things defeat it:

1. You provoked the other person intentionally, meaning to cause physical injury
2. You were the initial aggressor, and did not withdraw properly
3. The fight was combat by agreement not authorized by law

There is no duty to retreat before using ordinary, non-deadly force. The retreat rule attaches only to deadly physical force.

What does reasonably believes actually mean?

This is the heart of every self-defense case, and it was settled in People v. Goetz, 68 N.Y.2d 96 (1986). New York uses a hybrid test, neither purely subjective nor purely objective:

Step	Question
Subjective	Did you actually believe force was necessary?
Objective	Was that belief reasonable, judged on the circumstances as you perceived them?

Both must be satisfied. A genuine but wildly unreasonable belief fails. But the objective half is not an abstract question about how an ideal person would react: the factfinder considers your situation and what you knew, including prior threats, size disparity, whether a weapon was displayed, and what had already happened that night.

When is deadly physical force permitted?

Only where the ordinary requirements are met and one of the circumstances in Penal Law 35.15(2) applies:

• 35.15(2)(a): you reasonably believe the other person is using, or about to use, deadly physical force. This is the branch the retreat rule attaches to.
• 35.15(2)(b): you reasonably believe the other person is committing or attempting kidnapping, forcible criminal sexual act, robbery, or burglary. This paragraph was amended by Chapter 23 of the Laws of 2024, so check the current text.
• 35.15(2)(c): a burglary in the circumstances where Penal Law 35.20(3) authorizes deadly force.

That cross-reference matters. Not every unlawful entry authorizes deadly force automatically.

When exactly do you have to retreat?

Before deadly force, and only if you know you can avoid the need for it by retreating with complete safety to yourself and to others.

Read that carefully, because two qualifiers do most of the work:

• You must actually know a safe retreat exists. A route you did not know about, or could not have known about in the moment, does not count against you.
• Complete safety, including other people. If retreating would expose your child or a bystander, it is not a safe retreat.

Prosecutors describe this as a duty to run away. It is narrower than that, and the difference is frequently the case.

What if you started it?

Under 35.15(1)(b) an initial aggressor is not justified. But the right can be regained. All three of these must happen:

1. You withdraw from the encounter
2. You effectively communicate that withdrawal to the other person
3. The other person persists in using or threatening imminent unlawful force

Pausing, backing up a step, or switching tactics is not withdrawal. Who the initial aggressor was is a question of fact, and it is not always the person who threw the first punch. Words alone are generally not enough to make someone the initial aggressor, though intentionally provoking a fight in order to injure someone is separately excluded.

What is combat by agreement?

If two people agree to fight, neither can ordinarily claim justification for what follows. The exclusion is narrow and turns on whether there was a genuine mutual agreement, as opposed to one person attacking and the other responding. Mutual escalation is not automatically an agreement to fight.

Can you use deadly force to protect property?

No. Not for property alone.

Penal Law 35.20(1) allows physical force to prevent or stop a crime involving damage to premises, but deadly force remains governed by the separate restrictions in 35.15 and 35.20(3). Believing that property is being taken, damaged or trespassed on does not by itself authorize deadly force. There has to be a qualifying belief about deadly force, one of the specified serious felonies, or the statutory burglary circumstances.

Who has to prove self-defense? This is the part most articles get wrong

Justification in New York is a defense, not an affirmative defense. The distinction is not academic and it is worth more than everything above.

	Who proves it	To what standard
Affirmative defense (e.g. extreme emotional disturbance)	The defendant	Preponderance of the evidence
Defense (justification, PL 35.00)	The prosecution must disprove it	Beyond a reasonable doubt

Once the evidence raises justification, you do not have to prove you acted in self-defense. The People have to disprove it beyond a reasonable doubt, and they must do so as to a necessary element of the defense.

That is a very heavy burden, and it is the reason self-defense cases are worth fighting rather than pleading. Getting the justification charge in front of the jury is often the whole battle.

What this means practically

• Say nothing at the scene. Self-defense cases are built out of what people say in the first hour while adrenaline is still running. Explaining yourself to police is not the same as raising justification, and the account you give while shaking rarely matches the evidence later.
• Preserve what shows the threat. Prior threats, messages, injuries, damaged clothing, video, and witnesses who saw the start rather than the end.
• Who called first is not who was right. In mutual altercations, the person who dials 911 first is frequently treated as the complainant.
• The charge is not the outcome. Justification is decided by a jury on the evidence, under a burden the prosecution carries.

Where these cases are heard in Nassau County

Misdemeanor charges, including assault in the third degree, are heard in the Nassau County District Court at 99 Main Street in Hempstead. Felony assault and homicide charges begin there for arraignment and move to Nassau County Court in Mineola once indicted.

Related: what happens at an arraignment and criminal defense in Nassau County.