Justifications/ Excuses Flashcards
what is a justification
it’s a reason you did something that is NOT WRONG
what is an excuse
it’s a reason you did something that IS wrong but we understand why you did it
what are the ways to assess reasonableness for self-defense
traditional approach: objective
- what would a reasonable man with typical attributes, background, etc think was reasonable in the situation
modern approach: subjective
- what is reasonable from ∆’s specific point of view
(in reality still kind of objective)
what about mistaken self defense
reasonable mistake –> exonerates ∆
unreasonable mistake probably = manslaughter
what is battered women’s syndrome
learned helplessness
the subjective test of reasonableness from ∆’s POV yields the same result
is there a duty to retreat in your home
Common law - NO
MPC - NO
However, yes if you live together or you were the aggressor
is there a duty to retreat in public
common law: NO
MPC and minority: YES, if safe to do so
when can you use defense of others
if that guy would’ve had the right to protect himself too
what about mistaken defense of others
majority rule: reasonable mistake is okay
minority rule: no mistake is okay
can you use deadly force to protect property
sadly no, only if you thought someone was going to do violence to you or another person
when is deadly force ok for cops
- if the arrest is for felony
- if the fleeing person poses a significant threat of death/ serious injury to officer or others (or it’s reasonable to believe they do)
can you consent to non-serious bodily harm
MPC says sure pal
what are the elements for necessity or ‘choice of evils’
- reasonable belief
- that breaking the law is necessary
- to avoid a greater evil
- that is imminent
when might necessity work for prison breaks?
- if prisoner is faced with threat of death, prison rape, injury in imminent future
- no time to complain to guards or they don’t care
- no time to go to courts
- no use of force towards guards in the escape
- prisoner immediately turns himself in when he reaches safety
why is political necessity a hard sell
- hard to prove imminent grave harm when government has evaluated the risk and issued a permit
- hard to prove necessity for lawbreaking when political process exists
- courts worry about SOP
what is duress
a third party is coercing ∆ to commit a crime
what are the elements of duress
present
imminent
impending
of such a nature as to induce a well-grounded approach of death or great bodily harm
what has the common law to say about committing homicide under duress
duress does not excuse homicide, even if ∆ was threatened with death
but majority: homicides committed by the third party with the help of ∆ can be excused
what say the MPC about homicide committed under duress
might be excused!
test: whether a person of reasonable firmness could’ve resisted
possibilities for self-defense
self-defense without mistake = justification
self defense based on reasonable mistake = excuse
self-defense based on unreasonable mistake = voluntary manslaughter
what are the elements of entrapment
government
- temps an innocent person to do something they normally wouldn’t do
- inducement was overwhelming
does entrapment work for violent crime
no
what is the M’Nagthen test
∆ is insane if at the time of the offense ∆ could not
- understand the nature of ∆’s acts or
- understand that the acts were wrong
what does wrongfulness mean in the McNaughten test
wrongfulness depends on prevailing societal values, not ∆’s subjective values
BUT
∆’s understanding of societal standards could be impaired by his insanity (deific decree)
can you get an insanity defense for deific decree
yes, even if you failed the M’Naghten test because you knew it was wrong BECAUSE your understanding of societal standards was influenced by being nuts
how does the MPC assess insanity
cognitive and volitional test
cognitive prong - M’Naghten test
volitional prong - ∆ is insane if at the time of the crime was ∆ unable to conform his conduct to the requirements of the law
what’s hard about the volitional prong for MPC insanity
government can overcome it by showing that ∆ did have self control and rational conduct about some things at the time of the crime
what are the defenses
- self-defense
- consent
- necessity
- duress
- entrapment
- insanity
what are the justifications
- self-defenses
- consent
- necessity
what are the excuses
- duress
- entrapment
- insantiy
