Question

List and explain the major types of legal defenses.

Answer 1

1. Innocence

One of the simplest defenses to criminal liability is the defense of innocence. This defense is raised when you did not commit the crime. Remember, the prosecution has to prove every element of the crime charged against you and prove it beyond a reasonable doubt.

2. Constitutional Violations

These are types of criminal defenses used in criminal trials and involve the way evidence was collected by police and other law enforcement. Don’t miss these important defenses, because they could result in dismissal of the

prosecution’s entire case.

3.Alibi

Certain types of defenses in criminal law, such as the alibi defense, are affirmative defenses. This means the defendant (you) must prove the defense, and in the case of an alibi, it means that the defendant must prove that he or she was somewhere other than the scene of the crime at the time of the crime.

4. Insanity

The insanity defense, which you may hear about all the time in tv courtroom dramas, is used infrequently for a few reasons. The first is the insanity defense is another affirmative defense, which requires that the defendant prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, that he or she was suffering a severe mental disease or defect at the time the crime was committed.

5. Self-Defense

The defense of self-defense may be raised for crimes like assault, battery, and murder, where the defendant used violence in a justified way to respond to violent actions or the threat of violent actions coming from the victim.

6. Defense-of-Others

Like self-defense, another defense involving justified use of force or violence is the defense-of-others defense.

7. Defense-of-Property

Similar to self-defense and the defense-of-others, the defense-of-property defense may be raised where the defendant used force or violence to protect property, such as land or items, from damage or destruction. This defense has an additional limitation, in that the amount of force used to protect property can never be lethal.

8. Involuntary Intoxication

Involuntary intoxication is a lack of intent defense. If the defendant was in a state where he or she did not know what they were doing due to intoxication, this defense cancels out the intent aspect of most crimes.

9. Voluntary Intoxication

Unlike involuntary intoxication, getting drunk or high deliberately and then committing a crime will not stand as a valid defense.

10. Mistake of Law / Mistake of Fact

Sometimes, a defendant may have been unaware of a fundamental element of a crime that the prosecution has charged him with. For example, if a defendant is charged with stealing a car, but believed his family member or friend wanted to give him the car, a mistake defense would exist.

11. Duress or Coercion

This defense involves someone else threatening to use force or violence to get you to do something against your better judgment. Essentially, it means you were forced to commit a crime.

12. Abandonment / Withdrawal

This defense can be raised when a defendant initially intended to commit a crime or participate in a crime but had a change of heart and withdrew from participation.

13. Necessity

This is defense that applies where the defendant committed a crime to prevent a more significant harm from happening. For example, the defendant stole a car to drive a gunshot victim to the hospital or stole food to feed his starving family. The defense would not apply if the same defendant stole the car to take a vacation or stole laptops from an electronics store during a riot.

14. Statute of Limitations

This is a procedural defense. Sometimes, a certain crime will have a specific window of time in which it can be brought by the prosecution. If the window closes, the statute of limitations may bar the prosecution from bringing the case.