Consent

Question 1

Can consent of the victim to the conduct be a defense?

Answer 1

Yes, if such consent negatives an element of the offense or precludes the infliction of the harm or evil sought to be prevented by the law defining the offense.

Question 2

Sometimes consent of bodily harm does not get the defendant off:

Answer 2

a) bodily injury is so severe that it’s unlikely consent could be a defense (e.g. consenting to sawing off an arm)
b) conduct and the injury are reasonably foreseeable hazards of joint participation in a lawful athletic contest or competitive sport or other concerted activity not forbidden by law
c) The consent establishes a justification for the conduct under Article 3 of the Code. (example: you have to saw off my arm because it is in a bear trap, and I’ll die if you don’t)

Question 3

Ineffective consent

Answer 3

(a) given by a legally incompetent person to give consent (a mentally challenged person)
(b) given by someone that is young, with mental disease, or intoxicated incapable of understanding the gravity of their consent.
(c) It is given by a person whose improvident consent is sought to be prevented by law defining the offense (statutory rape); or
(d) It is induced by force, duress or deception of a kind sought to be prevented by the law defining the offense.