Nevada Self-Defense Laws – When can I use force?

Nevada self-defense law permits you to use reasonable force to defend yourself or another person against an immediate threat of bodily harm. The force must be necessary to stop the danger—not to punish the aggressor after the threat has ended.

Self-defense can often serve as a valid legal defense against such charges as assault, battery, battery domestic violence, attempted murder, and murder.

Nevada Self-Defense Rules

• Immediate danger: You must reasonably believe that the threat is happening or about to happen. A threat of possible future harm is generally insufficient.
• Reasonable force: You may use only the amount of force reasonably necessary to stop the threat. The law does not require an exact force-for-force match, but your response cannot be excessive.
• No retaliation: Self-defense ends when the danger ends. Chasing, striking, or shooting someone who is retreating may be treated as revenge rather than self-defense.
• Defense of others: You may use force to protect another person under generally the same rules that apply when protecting yourself.
• No duty to retreat: You may stand your ground before using deadly force if you did not provoke the confrontation, have a right to be there, and are not actively furthering a crime.

When Deadly Force Is Lawful

Deadly force may be justified in Nevada when you reasonably believe it is necessary to protect yourself or another person from an imminent threat of:

• Death;
• Substantial bodily harm; or
• A “crime of violence,” meaning a felony involving a substantial risk of force or violence against a person or property.

Fear alone is not enough. The surrounding circumstances must be sufficient to cause a reasonable person in your position to fear the threatened harm, and you must act because of that fear rather than out of revenge.

Nevada’s Castle Doctrine

Nevada’s Castle Doctrine provides additional legal protection when someone unlawfully and forcibly enters an occupied home or vehicle. Under certain circumstances, the law presumes that the occupant reasonably feared imminent death or bodily injury if the occupant:

• Knew or reasonably believed the intruder was entering unlawfully and by force;
• Knew or reasonably believed the intruder was committing or attempting a crime of violence; and
• Did not provoke the intruder.

The Castle Doctrine does not provide an unlimited right to kill every trespasser or to use deadly force merely to protect replaceable property. Whether the force was justified still depends on what the occupant reasonably believed and what the intruder appeared to be doing.

In our experience, self-defense cases often turn on seconds of activity and small factual details. Surveillance footage, 911 calls, injuries, witness accounts, the parties’ relative sizes, prior threats, and whether the alleged aggressor was advancing or retreating can determine whether prosecutors view the force as lawful protection or a crime.

In this article, our Las Vegas criminal defense lawyers will address the following key issues regarding Nevada self-defense laws.

• 1. Overview
• 2. Killing in Self-Defense
• 3. Killing Home Intruders
• 4. Defense of Others
• 5. Imperfect Self-Defense
• 6. Applicable Crimes
• 7. Proving Self-Defense
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Additional Reading

1. Overview

Nevada law permits the use of force in self-defense in situations where:

• The non-aggressor reasonably believes they (or another) are facing an urgent or pressing threat of bodily harm, and
• The non-aggressor uses no more physical force than necessary to deflect the threat. ¹

Under Nevada’s “stand your ground” law, victims generally have the option to fight back in self-defense, even if they could have run away to avoid the conflict. An act of self-defense just has to be reasonable to be lawful.

Example 1: Tom tells John to leave his Henderson home, but John refuses. Tom then puts John in a headlock and leads him out of the house. While trapped in the headlock, John reaches for his knife and stabs Tom in the chest. Tom survives, but the police arrest John for attempted murder with a deadly weapon.

Here, odds are John would not win on self-defense grounds. Even though Tom was the aggressor by putting John in a headlock, the court would probably find that John overreacted with unnecessary physical force. If John had merely bitten or punched Tom to get out of the headlock, John would have a much better case for self-defense. Now the scenario changes slightly:

Example 2: Tom puts John in a headlock and leads him out of Tom’s house. Once outside, Tom lets John go and walks back inside the house. John then turns around, goes back in the house and punches Tom. The police arrest John for battery.

Here, John would not have a viable self-defense claim either. Since Tom had let John go, John was no longer in any imminent physical danger. It does not matter if John honestly believed that he was acting in self-defense . . . the courts would only care about whether his belief was reasonable. This is the final scenario:

Example 3: Tom yells at John, “Look out! I am gonna kick your ass!” and punches him. John punches back harder, causing Tom to fall back and pass out. The police arrest John for battery.

Here, John’s battery charges probably would be dismissed on self-defense grounds. Even if Tom never intended to punch John more than once, John reasonably believed he faced immediate physical harm due to Tom’s verbal threat and subsequent punch. Furthermore, John retaliated using only as much force as necessary to stop Tom.

Predictably, self-defense cases are very fact-specific. Nevada courts closely examine the details of what happened and when to determine whether the defendant acted reasonably.

2. Killing in Self-Defense

A person can kill in self-defense, but only under certain narrow circumstances. A justifiable homicide (NRS 200.120) in Nevada occurs when all the following four conditions are met:

1. The danger was urgent and pressing;
2. The non-aggressor faced death or major bodily harm;
3. A reasonable person in the non-aggressor’s position would also fear for their life and safety; and
4. The non-aggressor was not merely acting out of revenge. ²

In other words, killing in self-defense is lawful only when the person faces an immediate threat of being killed or seriously injured. A “bare fear” of being hurt is insufficient to justify killing in self-defense.

Example: Leland is walking home when Zack approaches him, produces a knife, and orders Leland to give him his wallet. Leland responds by grabbing the knife and stabbing Zack to death. In this case, Leland acted in lawful self-defense under Nevada’s stand your ground laws because Zack presented an urgent threat to Leland’s safety, and any reasonable person in Leland’s position would also fear for their safety.

If Zack in the above example was not armed, then Leland probably would not have legal justification to kill Zack unless Zack started to aggressively and repeatedly punch Leland.

Is there a duty to retreat before using deadly force in Nevada?

It depends. In Nevada, a person is not required to try to retreat before using deadly force if the following three conditions are true:

1. The person did not start the fight; and
2. The person has the right to be at the location where deadly force is used; and
3. The person is not otherwise breaking the law at the time deadly force is used. ³

In short, a person has no duty to retreat before fighting back with deadly force as long as the person is not the original aggressor, is not trespassing, and is not in the midst of illegal activity.

Example: Annie and Lee get into an argument while out to dinner. In a fit of rage, Annie takes her steak knife and flies towards Lee. Lee dodges the knife and stabs Annie with his own steak knife. Even though Lee probably could have retreated since they were in a restaurant, Lee broke no law by “standing his ground” and fighting back against the deadly force he reasonably believed Annie was about to inflict.

Here, Lee had no duty to retreat because:

1. Annie started the fight,
2. Lee had the right to be at the restaurant, and
3. Lee was not involved in any criminal activity at the time — he was just having dinner.

Though if Annie and Lee were in the midst of burglarizing a house or cooking meth or other illegal acts, then Lee would have a duty to retreat if Annie tried to kill him.

3. Killing Home Intruders

Under Nevada’s “Castle Doctrine,” it is justifiable to kill an intruder of an occupied home or vehicle if the intruder is attempting to commit a felony such as home invasion. ⁴

Example: Abe is walking back to his Las Vegas home after getting drunk at a Las Vegas bachelor party. But he tries to get into the home next door owned by Tom because he is too inebriated to realize it is not his house. Meanwhile, Tom wakes up and hears someone trying to break down his door. Tom then shoots his gun through the door, killing Abe. Since Tom was reasonable in believing that a person was trying to break in — which is a felony — Tom was justified under the Castle Doctrine to kill in self-defense.

In the above example, it makes no difference that Abe may have had no intention of hurting anyone. His act of trying to break in the door was sufficient justification for the occupant Tom to kill the intruder.

Note that if Tom’s home was empty at the time, and if Tom was down the street when he saw Abe trying to break in, Tom would not be allowed to kill Abe. That is because the “Castle Doctrine” applies only to occupied homes and vehicles, not empty ones.

4. Defense of Others

Nevada law does not distinguish between acting in defense of oneself and acting in defense of another.

Example: Hank is sitting on his porch when he sees a pedestrian down the street getting held up by an armed robber. Hank immediately pulls out his gun and shoots the robber dead. The police arrive to investigate and decide not to arrest Hank for murder because he acted in lawful defense of the pedestrian.

In the above example, it is irrelevant that Hank’s own safety was not being harmed, or that Hank was of no relation to the pedestrian. Since the pedestrian was facing an immediate physical threat, Hank was justified in defending him by shooting the robber. In short, all of Nevada’s laws for self-defense apply to “defense of others.” ⁵

5. Imperfect Self-Defense

An imperfect self-defense is when a person honestly but unreasonably believes they were acting in self-defense. Nevada courts do not recognize imperfect self-defense as a valid defense in criminal cases. ⁶

Example: Miriam’s neighbor stops her in the driveway and threatens to beat her up if her dog goes on his lawn again. Shaken up, Miriam punches him.

In this case, Miriam may have honestly believed that her safety was in danger. However, she acted in imperfect self-defense because she was in no imminent harm. Therefore, Miriam would probably still face battery charges for punching her neighbor.

6. Applicable Crimes

Self-defense can work as a legal defense to any violent crime in Nevada, such as

• resisting arrest,
• robbery,
• rape,
• brandishing a deadly weapon,
• reckless endangerment, and
• unlawful discharge of a firearm.

As long as the non-aggressor is reasonably trying to protect themself, they should not be penalized for hurting or even mortally wounding the aggressor if necessary.

Below is a closer look at how self-defense may play into some other common Nevada crimes:

Assault or Battery

Victims of the assault or battery in Nevada are legally allowed to fight back as long as they use proportional force to resist imminent bodily harm:

Example: Ira is angry that Fred has not paid him back yet. After arguing, Ira takes a swing at Fred. Fred ducks and kicks Ira, causing him to fall to the floor. Here, Fred is justified in kicking Ira because kicking Ira is proportional to being punched. So if a Las Vegas Metro police officer arrests Fred for committing battery on Ira, the charge should be dismissed on self-defense grounds.

Had Fred in the above example beaten Ira to death or until he sustained severe injuries, Fred would have a harder time claiming self-defense. That is because such a severe beating would not have been proportional to the single punch Ira threw at Fred.

Battery Domestic Violence

In Nevada, battery domestic violence (BDV) is battery between

• family,
• (ex)dating partners, or
• co-parents.

Domestic arguments are very common, and in many cases, the person who acted in self-defense gets wrongly charged:

Example: Vanessa is angry at her boyfriend Victor. She starts kicking and punching him, and Victor pushes Vanessa away, causing her to fall and cut her hand. Vanessa calls 911 and claims Victor pushed her. When the police arrive and Victor explains what happened, they decide to arrest Victor for BDV because Vanessa is the only one with visible bruises. But if Victor’s attorney can show the prosecutor that Vanessa struck first and that Victor was merely protecting himself, the charges should be dropped.

Self-defense can sometimes be difficult to prove in “he said/she said” situations. Therefore, evidence such as surveillance video and eyewitnesses becomes vital to showing that the defendant did not strike first and reacted with proportional force.

Murder

As discussed above, Nevada law permits people to kill in self-defense. Justifiable homicide occurs when the defendant reasonably believes they (or others) face an immediate or imminent threat of death or substantial bodily harm:⁷

Example: Kyla is walking down an empty street when a man appears and pulls a gun on her. Kyla wrests the gun away from him and shoots him dead. The police initially arrest Kyla on murder charges for killing the man. But when they find surveillance video showing that the man threatened Kyla first, all charges are dropped.

If the man in the above example was simply carrying a gun but was not threatening Kyla with the gun, then Kyla would not have the legal justification to kill the man. Or if the man had no gun and simply yelled obscenities at her, Kyla would have no justification to kill — or even touch — the man because her safety was not threatened.

Battered Person’s Syndrome

Typically, deadly self-defense is legal only when the person acting in self-defense is facing an imminent threat of death or serious bodily harm. Though if a person suffers from Battered Person’s Syndrome, it may be legal for them to kill in self-defense even when the threat is not technically imminent…

Also called Battered Women’s Syndrome, Battered Person’s Syndrome is a medical condition that compels repeat abuse victims to retaliate and injure or kill their abusers out of self-defense. In many cases, victims do not fight back when they are facing an immediate threat. Instead, they wait until their abuser is asleep or otherwise vulnerable before they strike back.

Having Battered Person’s Syndrome is not by itself a complete defense to homicide charges in Nevada. Though it can often come in as evidence of the defendant’s state of mind. If the court finds that a murder defendant suffers from Battered Person’s Syndrome, it may be possible for the charges to be dropped even if the defendant was not facing an immediate threat at the time they killed the abuser. ⁸

Home Invasion

Home invasion occurs when someone forcibly enters an inhabited dwelling without permission of the lawful occupant or owner. As discussed above, Nevada’s “Castle Doctrine” generally permits people in their homes or vehicles to kill intruders.

Example: Jessie is asleep in her home when she hears some rustling outside. She looks at the surveillance video through her ADT account and sees a person with a black mask and burglary tools trying to get in the back door. Jessie then takes out her gun and shoots through the door, killing the burglar. When the police arrive and watch the surveillance video, they decide not to arrest Jessie for homicide because the “Castle Doctrine” gave her the legal authority to kill home intruders.

In the above example, it does not matter that Jessie could have escaped out the front door and avoided a conflict altogether. Nevada law gives Jessie the legal right to stand her ground and fight back rather than retreat. ⁹

7. Proving Self-Defense

Self-defense is an “affirmative defense” in Nevada state law. This means that the defendant has the initial burden to claim that they acted in lawful self-defense. Then once the defendant makes this claim, the burden shifts to the prosecutor to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant did not act in accordance with Nevada self-defense laws. ¹⁰

Evidence that frequently comes into play in self-defense cases we handle includes

• eyewitnesses,
• medical testimony,
• video surveillance footage,
• 911 recordings (especially any background noises and threat descriptions),
• witness statements,
• medical records,
• expert testimony,
• body-camera footage,
• photographs of injuries,
• phone videos,
• text messages, and
• weapons recovered at the scene.

If adverse witnesses take the stand and give testimony, we may be able to impeach their credibility through aggressive cross-examination.

Note that the vast majority of cases never make it to trial. Oftentimes, the prosecutor is willing to plea bargain the charges down to a lesser offense. If we can show the prosecutor that our client’s self-defense claim is plausible, the prosecutor may drop the charges completely.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I still face consequences after acting in self-defense?

Even when you believe your use of force was justified, police may arrest you and prosecutors may file charges. Self-defense cases often depend on small details, such as who started the confrontation, whether the danger was immediate, whether the other person was armed, and whether you stopped using force when the threat ended.

In our experience, evidence can disappear quickly. Surveillance recordings may be overwritten, witnesses may become difficult to locate, and injuries begin healing. We try to preserve this evidence as soon as possible so prosecutors hear more than just the alleged victim’s version of what happened.

Can I be sued for using deadly force in self-defense in Nevada?

Possibly. Lawful self-defense does not always prevent the injured person or their family from filing a personal injury or wrongful death lawsuit. However, NRS 41.095 provides special civil protection when a lawful occupant uses deadly force against someone committing burglary, home invasion, or grand larceny of a motor vehicle with the use or threatened use of a deadly weapon.

In these limited circumstances, Nevada law presumes that the occupant reasonably feared imminent death or bodily injury. The intruder generally cannot maintain a lawsuit unless they overcome that presumption by clear and convincing evidence.

In our experience, a decision not to file criminal charges does not necessarily prevent a civil claim. We preserve surveillance footage, 911 calls, photographs, witness information, and other evidence that may be needed in both criminal and civil proceedings.

Can I claim self-defense if the other person was unarmed or walking away?

Possibly, but words alone generally do not justify physical force. Pulling a gun on an unarmed person during a merely verbal argument may be considered excessive force and may cause you to be treated as the aggressor. An unarmed person can still present a threat of serious bodily harm, but the surrounding circumstances must make that belief reasonable.

Self-defense also generally ends when the immediate threat ends. Using force against someone who is retreating, walking away, or no longer capable of attacking may be viewed as retaliation rather than self-defense. Likewise, you cannot chase down a former attacker merely to punish them.

In our experience, the timing of each action is critical. Video footage, witness accounts, injuries, the parties’ relative sizes, prior threats, and whether the alleged aggressor was still advancing or had begun retreating can determine whether prosecutors view the incident as lawful protection or criminal retaliation.

Additional Reading

For more in-depth information on self-defense laws, refer to these scholarly articles:

• Abused Women Abused by the Law: The Plight of Battered Women in California and a Proposal for Revising the California Self-Defense Law – California Review of Law & Women’s Studies.
• Justifying Self-defense – Law & Philosophy.
• A Matter of Evidence or of Law – Battered Women Claiming Self-Defense in California – UCLA Women’s Law Journal.
• A New Defense for Self-defense – Buffalo Law Review.

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