Self-defense
1. Subjective and objective components of two main elements.
a. Necessity.( immediate threat)
b. Proportionality
2. Rule of retreat
3. Initial aggressor rule
4. Imperfect self defense.
Self Defense issues
one that undermines a person's ability to perceive reality accurately
Cognitive Disorder
often called the “lesser of two evils” defense—is a justification that allows a defendant to avoid liability by showing that their illegal act was necessary to prevent a greater harm
Necessity definition
1. Reasonable belief rule (majority)
2. Alter Ego rule / stand in the shoes rule
Defense of others elements
a defense that excuses a defendant’s unlawful conduct if they were coerced by an imminent threat of serious harm or death, leaving them no reasonable alternative but to commit the crime.
Duress definition
Only applies to use of deadly force
Victim of aggression was retrieved unless.
1. No place of complete safety is reasonably available.
2. The attack was so sudden, fierce and violent that he, slash Sheen, has no chance to retreat.
3. He was a non aggressor and was attacked in his slash her home castle.
Retreat Rule is part of the necessity and professionality elements of self defense.
Rule of retreat
one that undermines a person's ability to control his/her conduct
volitional disorder
1. D faced with clear and imminent danger (not debatable or speculative)
2. D reasonably expects action will be effective in abating danger
3. effective legal alternative
4. Legislative has not acted to preclude defense.
necessity elements
The right to defend a third party is no greater than the right if any of the third person to defend him/herself.
--a defendant may only claim defense of others if the third party actually had the right to use self-defense under the circumstances
--D stands in the shoes of the 3rd party
If the 3rd party had the legal right to use self-defense, then the intervener may also be justified
Alter Ego Rule
not a defense to intentional murder
Duress
-The right to use force in self-defense is not available to one who is the initial aggressor UNLESS:
1. Initial aggressor withdrawals from the conflict in good faith and informs other party by words or act.
2. Response by victim is disproportionate.
Example defendant slaps victim and victim response by pulling out a gun, slash knife, deadly weapon.
Initial aggressor rule
a foundational legal standard for determining insanity in criminal law.
a defendant must prove that, at the time of the crime, they were suffering from a mental disease or defect that caused them to either:
This is often referred to as the “right-wrong” test
M'Naghten test
- D's act must cause a lesser evil than that avoided
- D's not at fault for causing situation that produced the claim of necessity
Additional limitations of necessity
An actor is justified in using force against another to protect a 3rd person when:
(1) A reasonable person in the actor's position would believe intervention and level of force used was necessary to protect a third person from unlawful force
(2) Under the circumstances as the actor believed them to be , the third person would have been justified in using force to protect him/ herself
Reasonable belief rule
1. immediate threat of death or serious bodily injury
2. Well- grounded fear that threat will be carried out
3. no reasonable opportunity to escape
4. D must not have placed him/herself in a situation where coercion to commit criminal acts is reasonably anticipated
Duress elements
- Aries when the accused has an actual subjective belief that he/ she is in apparent imminent danger of death and/or that the amount of force used was proportional, but that belief is not objectively reasonable.
- under the circumstances the murder is mitigated to voluntary manslaughter
Imperfect self defense
a form of the insanity defense that focuses on a defendant’s inability to control their actions due to a mental illness—even if they understood the act was wrong
To succeed under this test, the defendant must show:
Parsons v. State (Alabama, 1887), the court held that a defendant suffering from a mental illness could be acquitted if the illness destroyed their free agency, making them unable to choose between right and wrong
Irresistible impulse
the defendant must prove:
DUI case
a partial defense that applies when a defendant honestly but unreasonably believes that deadly force is necessary to prevent imminent harm. It doesn’t result in acquittal, but it can reduce a murder charge to manslaughter
imperfect self defense
Homicide- Most jurisdictions do not allow duress as a defense to murder. Killing an innocent person—even under threat—is not legally excusable
Voluntary Exposure to Risk-If the defendant knowingly placed themselves in a dangerous situation (e.g., joining a violent gang), they may be barred from using duress
Reasonable Legal Alternative-Duress fails if the defendant had a safe and lawful way out but chose to commit the crime anyway
Non-Imminent Threats-The threat must be immediate and specific. General fear or future harm doesn’t qualify
Disproportionate Harm-If the crime committed causes greater harm than the threat avoided, courts may reject the defense
exceptions to duress
elements
1. Actor ( who is not the initial aggressor) subjectively believes and has objectively reasonable grounds for believing, that the use of deadly force was necessary under the circumstances
a. imminent threats of deadly force
b. no non-deadly response available (rule of retreat )
c. if belief was actual, but not objectively reasonable grounds for believing that the amount of force used was proportional under the circumstances
2. Actor who is not the initial aggressor, subjectively believed. And was objectively reasonable grounds for believing that the amount of force used was proportional under the circumstances.
a. Deadly force only available to address threat of deadly force.
b. Now no undeadly response available. Rule of retreat.
c. If belief Was actual but not objectively reasonable. Consider imperfect self defense
self- defense: deadly force
A defendant is not responsible for criminal conduct if, at the time of the act, they lacked:
“Substantial capacity either to appreciate the criminality [or wrongfulness] of their conduct or to conform their conduct to the requirements of law.”
This means:
Model Penal Code
A person breaks into a cabin in the woods to escape a deadly snowstorm. Though technically committing burglary, the act may be justified under necessity because it prevented death and no reasonable alternative existed.
example of necessity
a justification defense that allows someone to use force to protect another person from imminent harm—similar to self-defense, but on behalf of someone else.
Defense of others
Juan Manuel Contento-Pachon, a Colombian taxi driver.He claimed he was coerced by a drug trafficker named Jorge, who threatened to kill his wife and child if he refused to smuggle the drugs.
The court found that Contento-Pachon met the three key elements of duress:
The court emphasized that these were triable issues of fact, meaning a jury—not the judge—should decide whether duress applied.
United States v. Contento-Pachon 1984