1. Class Name, Instructor Name
Schmalleger/Hall, Criminal Law Today, 5th edition
Chapter 5: Justifications as Defenses
Class Name, Instructor Name
Date, Semester

2. CHAPTER OBJECTIVES
Explain the purpose of a defense to a criminal charge, and distinguish between factual and legal defenses.
5.1
5.2
Explain the nature of affirmative defenses.
5.3
Distinguish between justifications and excuses.
5.4
Describe the necessity defense.
5.5
Summarize the use of force and deadly force in self-defense.
Explain the execution of public duty defense, and describe when and by whom it might be used.
5.6

3. Learning Objectives
After this lecture, you should be able to complete the following Learning Outcomes
5.1
Explain the purpose of a defense to a criminal charge, and distinguish between factual and legal defenses.

4. Generally, there are two types of defenses:
5.1
Types of Defenses
A defense consists of evidence and arguments offered by a defendant and his or her attorney(s) to show why that person should not be held liable for a criminal charge.
Generally, there are two types of defenses:
Factual
Legal

5. 5.1
Types of Defenses

6. 5.1
Types of Defenses
A factual defense is one in which the defendant simply asserts that he or she didn’t do it.
Alibi (when a defendant claims to not have been present at the location of the crime) is an example of a factual defense.

7. Explain the nature of affirmative defenses.
Learning Objectives
After this lecture, you should be able to complete the following Learning Outcomes
5.2
Explain the nature of affirmative defenses.

8. 5.2
Types of Defenses
Justifications and excuses are affirmative defenses—that is, they must be raised or asserted by the defendant independently of any claims made by the prosecutor.
This is a variance from the general rule that places the burden of production and persuasion on the government.
For affirmative defenses, defendants bear the burden of production—that is, they must assert the defense at the time required by law.

9. Distinguish between justifications and excuses.
Learning Objectives
After this lecture, you should be able to complete the following Learning Outcomes
5.3
Distinguish between justifications and excuses.

10. Two forms of legal defense are:
5.3
Types of Defenses
Two forms of legal defense are:
Excuses
The defendant claims that some personal condition or circumstance at the time of the act was such that he or she should not be held accountable under the criminal law.
Justifications
The defendant admits to committing the act in question but claims it was necessary in order to avoid some greater evil.

11. Justification as a Defense
5.3
Justification as a Defense
Conduct that violates the law may be justifiable. A person who kills another in self-defense, for example, may be completely innocent of criminal homicide.

12. Justification as a Defense
5.3
Justification as a Defense
Justifications
Necessity
Self-Defense
Defense of Others
Defense of Home and Property
Resisting Unlawful Arrest
Consent

13. Describe the necessity defense.
Learning Objectives
After this lecture, you should be able to complete the following Learning Outcomes
5.4
Describe the necessity defense.

14. The defense of necessity
5.4
The defense of necessity

15. Summarize the use of force and deadly force in self-defense.
Learning Objectives
After this lecture, you should be able to complete the following Learning Outcomes
5.5
Summarize the use of force and deadly force in self-defense.

16. 5.5
Self-Defense
Defense of self has long been accepted as justification for activities that might otherwise confer criminal liability.
Self-defense is based on the recognition that individuals have an inherent right to protect themselves and that to reasonably defend oneself from unlawful attack is a natural response to threatening situations.

17. Stand-Your-Ground Laws
5.5
Self-Defense
How much force and when?
Castle Doctrine
Stand-Your-Ground Laws
Retreat Rule
Perfect and Imperfect Self-Defense

18. 5.5
Apparent danger

19. 5.5
Defense of Others
The use of force to defend oneself has generally been extended to permit the use of reasonable force to defend others who are, or who appear to be, in imminent danger.
Simply put, when another person is being victimized, you can stand in the shoes of the victim and can use whatever force the victim could use in that person’s defense.

20. 5.5
Defense of Others
However, the defense of others, sometimes called defense of a third person, is circumscribed in some jurisdictions by the alter ego rule.
The alter ego rule holds that a person can only defend a third party under circumstances and only to the degree that the third party could act.

21. 5.5 States with Stand-Your-Ground laws
Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence

22. Defense of Home and Property
5.5
Defense of Home and Property
Defense of property, also called protection of property, can apply in the following situations:
Use of a mechanical device to protect property
Protection of personal property
Defense of home or habitation
Defense of another’s property

23. Resisting Unlawful Arrest
5.5
Resisting Unlawful Arrest
All jurisdictions today have laws making it illegal for a person to resist a lawful arrest.
Under common law, however, it was lawful to use force to resist an unlawful arrest.
On the other hand, some states require a person to submit to any arrest by an authorized law enforcement officer acting on official business.
This is because resisting arrest can be a dangerous undertaking for all the parties involved, and because the complexities of today’s law may make it difficult for those on the scene to decide at the moment of arrest whether or not an arrest is lawful.

24. 5.5
Consent
The defense of consent makes the claim that the person suffering an injury either:
Agreed to sustain the injury
Accepted the possibility of injury before the activity was undertaken
In either case, consent must be voluntarily and legally given if the defense is to be useful.
It is also important to note that consent is only available as a defense if lack of consent is an element of the crime (as it is, for example, in the crime of rape).

25. Learning Objectives
After this lecture, you should be able to complete the following Learning Outcomes
5.6
Explain the execution of public duty defense, and describe when and by whom it might be used.

26. Execution of Public Duty
5.6
Execution of Public Duty
Most states provide statutory protections to law enforcement officers who find it necessary to use force to effect an arrest or to prevent individuals in their custody from escaping.
Such statutes provide an execution of public duty defense, which precludes the possibility of arresting officers being prosecuted on charges of assault or battery (if force is needed to effect the arrest or to maintain custody), as long as the officers act in a lawful manner.

27. CHAPTER SUMMARY
A defense consists of evidence and arguments offered by a defendant and his or her attorney(s) to show why that person should not be held liable for a criminal charge. A successful defense may have the effect of completely exonerating the defendant of any criminal liability.
Defenses may be built upon these bases: (1) alibi, (2) justifications, and (3) excuses.
5.1
Justifications and excuses are affirmative defenses. They must be raised or asserted by the defendant independently of any claims made by the prosecutor.
5.2
An excuse does not claim that the conduct in question is justified; instead it suggests that the actor who engaged in it was, at the time, suffering under some defect of personality or circumstance so as to not be legally responsible for his or her actions.
5.3

28. CHAPTER SUMMARY
Justifications include: (1) necessity, (2) self-defense, (3) defense of others, (4) defense of home and property, (5) resisting unlawful arrest, and (6) consent.
5.3
The defense of necessity claims that it was necessary to commit some unlawful act in order to prevent or to avoid a greater harm. The defense of necessity has generally been far more effective in the face of grave physical threats that are immediately present than it has been in protecting defendants facing economic or psychological hardship.
5.4
The use of force to defend oneself has generally been extended to permit the use of reasonable force to defend others who are, or who appear to be, in imminent danger. Property in the possession of a third person, or the home of a third person, may be protected by one who assists that person to the same degree and in the same manner that the owner of the property or the home would have been privileged to act.
5.5

29. CHAPTER SUMMARY
In most jurisdictions, the owner of property can justifiably use reasonable nondeadly force to prevent others from unlawfully taking or damaging that property. As a general rule, however, the preservation of human life outweighs protection of property, and the use of deadly force to protect property is not justified unless the perpetrator of the illegal act may intend to commit, or is in the act of committing, a violent act against another human being.
Resistance in the face of an unlawful arrest is considered justifiable in almost all jurisdictions. Many states have codified statutory provisions detailing the limits imposed on such resistance and the conditions under which it can be used.
5.5
Execution of public duty defense precludes the possibility of arresting officers being prosecuted on charges of assault or battery (if force is needed to effect the arrest or to maintain custody), as long as the officers act in a lawful manner.
5.6