Criminal Law

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• Publisher: QuickStudy Reference Guides
• Year: 2018
• ISBN:
  9781423237549
• Topic: Law
• Subtopic: Law Theory & Practice
• Index: Law

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DEFENSES

DEFENSES AGAINST THE CRIME • JUSTIFICATION

1. Definition: When the commission of the proscribed act is justified and therefore not appropriate for criminal sanctions
2. Crimes against the person
   1. Self-defense, defense of property, and prevention of crime
   2. Nondeadly force
      1. A person may use such force as reasonably appears necessary to prevent the imminent use of unlawful force on him/her, short of deadly force
      2. There is no duty to retreat before using nondeadly force
   3. Deadly force
      1. May only be used in self-defense, when it reasonably appears necessary to prevent immediate death or serious injury, or to prevent the commission of a serious felony involving risk to human life
      2. Only allowed if the threat is imminent, response is necessary, and deadly force is proportionate to the threat
      3. The reasonable belief standard is applied to the use of self-defense; thus, even if the belief of the threat is inaccurate, provided the belief is reasonable, the defense of self-defense is still valid to insulate one from criminal liability
         1. Battered woman’s syndrome and reasonable belief: During an active confronta­tion, one can consider past incidents of violence to determine whether the current threat is deadly or nondeadly
         2. Battered woman’s syndrome evidence is generally not allowed in nonconfrontational cases where there was no current or active threat of violence at the time deadly force was used.
            EX: Battered woman’s syndrome will not protect a wife who kills her batterer while he is sleeping because there is no active threat at that moment
      4. May only be used against an attacker using unlawful force and who has initiated the aggression
   4. Duty to retreat rule
      1. At common law, one must retreat rather than use deadly force unless at one’s home or business (Castle Doctrine)
      2. Some jurisdictions have adopted the rule that there is no duty to retreat unless retreat can be made safely
      3. Some jurisdictions do not require a duty to retreat even if it can be done safely
   5. Stand your ground jurisdictions (current legal trend)
      1. Increasingly more jurisdictions are abandoning the duty to retreat requirement and instead are allowing individuals to “stand your ground,” even in instances where retreat could be done safely
      2. In “stand your ground” jurisdictions, this right is extended beyond one’s home, car, or business and permits individuals to use deadly force in public, with no obligation to retreat
      3. If deadly force is used correctly within the confines of the “stand your ground” statute, it is a defense to the criminal charge
      4. Some “stand your ground” jurisdictions additionally provide the defendant with immunity from prosecution and civil suit
      5. Under the immunity from prosecution provision, the defendant is entitled to a pretrial hearing on self-defense and the judge determines the exercise of self-defense prior to the jury
   6. Right of aggressor to use self-defense
      1. Generally, the one who begins a fight has no right to use self-defense as a defense, but aggressor can regain the right to use self-defense if:
         1. Aggressor removes himself/herself from the fight (withdrawal)
         2. Victim of minor aggression begins to use deadly force and aggressor reasonably fears for life (sudden escalation)
         3. Future threats do not work
3. Imperfect self-defense
   1. Some jurisdictions allow for a partial self-defense theory, which would not justify one’s actions but instead mitigate the punishment to a lesser offense (e.g., manslaughter instead of murder)
   2. Imperfect self-defense is a type of middle ground between a complete defense and no defense
   3. It is allowed in some states where the defendant was either reckless or negligent in the exercise of self-defense
4. Defense of others
   1. Only if the defendant reasonably believed the victim had the legal right to use force in his/her own defense
   2. No special relationship is needed
   3. Retreat rule: Defendant need not retreat unless he/she knows he/she can secure the complete safety of the victim
5. Defense of habitation (Castle Doctrine)
   1. Permits an occupant of a dwelling to use self-defense, including deadly force if necessary, within the home against an intruder who intends to commit a felony inside or cause injury to an occupant inside the dwelling
6. Defense of property
   1. Only nondeadly force may be used to defend one’s property in his/her posses­sion from unlawful interference in most jurisdictions
   2. Deadly force only with another allowed use of force (e.g., self-defense of home invasion with gun)
   3. The use of force must reasonably appear imminent
   4. A small minority of jurisdictions allow the use of deadly force to defend property
7. Necessity
   1. Otherwise-criminal conduct is justifiable if, as a result of pressure from natural forces, the defendant reasonably believed that his/her conduct was necessary to avoid harm to self or society
      1. Trespasser on private property calls fire department to report rapidly spreading fire on only available phone
   2. Balance of evils: Defendant must reasonably believe the conduct was neces­sary to avoid harm to society, which is greater than the harm caused by his/her criminal conduct
   3. Test is objective; a good-faith belief is enough
   4. Death is never justifiable to protect property
   5. Defendant must be without fault
   6. There must be no effective legal alternative

• DURESS: EXCUSABLE, NOT JUSTIFIABLE

1. Defendant contends that, because of human threat, he/she is the victim
   1. Defendant claims someone threatened him by requiring that if defendant did not commit the bank robbery, defendant’s life or the life of a loved one would be in danger; if duress claim is...

Table of contents

• ACT (ACTUS REUS)
• INTENT (MENS REA)
• CRIMES
• DEFENSES
• PURPOSES OF PUNISHMENT
• BURDEN OF PROOF
• MODEL PENAL CODE (MPC)