CALCRIM No. 506

Within Home or on Property

The defendant is not guilty of (murder/ [or] manslaughter/ attempted

murder/ [or] attempted voluntary manslaughter) if (he/she)

(killed/attempted to kill) to defend (himself/herself) [or any other person]

in the defendant’s home. Such (a/an) [attempted] killing is justified, and

therefore not unlawful, if:

1. The defendant reasonably believed that (he/she) was defending a

home against <insert name of decedent>, who

(intended to or tried to commit ___________ <insert forcible and

atrocious crime>/ [or] violently[[,] [or] riotously[,]/ [or]

tumultuously] tried to enter that home intending to commit an

act of violence against someone inside);

2. The defendant reasonably believed that the danger was imminent;

3. The defendant reasonably believed that the use of deadly force

was necessary to defend against the danger;

AND

4. The defendant used no more force than was reasonably necessary

to defend against the danger.

Belief in future harm is not sufficient, no matter how great or how likely

the harm is believed to be. The defendant must have believed there was

imminent danger of violence to (himself/herself/ [or] someone else).

Defendant’s belief must have been reasonable and (he/she) must have

acted only because of that belief. The defendant is only entitled to use

that amount of force that a reasonable person would believe is necessary

in the same situation. If the defendant used more force than was

reasonable, then the [attempted] killing was not justified.

When deciding whether the defendant’s beliefs were reasonable, consider

all the circumstances as they were known to and appeared to the

defendant and consider what a reasonable person in a similar situation

with similar knowledge would have believed. If the defendant’s beliefs

were reasonable, the danger does not need to have actually existed.

[A defendant is not required to retreat. He or she is entitled to stand his

or her ground and defend himself or herself and, if reasonably necessary,

to pursue an assailant until the danger of (death/bodily injury/

<insert forcible and atrocious crime>) has passed. This is so

even if safety could have been achieved by retreating.]

The People have the burden of proving beyond a reasonable doubt that

the [attempted] killing was not justified. If the People have not met this

burden, you must find the defendant not guilty of [attempted] (murder/

[or] manslaughter).

New January 2006; Revised September 2022