Self Defense and Deadly Force

Legally allowed self defense and deadly force

Self defense and deadly force are of course related. Self defense is said to have two degrees of force: reasonable force and deadly force. Reasonable force refers to non-lethal means of self defense while deadly force refers to lethal means. Here we will examine what the courts think is an acceptable situation for deadly force.

In self defense, there are some cases when the potential victim uses their self defense technique and it results in the death of the assailant. Most courts judge these cases to be justified if the defendant faced a similar threat from the assailant. For example, if the attacker threatened the defendant with a knife with an intent to kill, then the courts would find a case of self defense and deadly force to be justified. However, if the defendant faced only verbal abuse which ended in a death, then there would be a problem.

Courts have ruled that a "path of retreat" exists in most cases and only justifies self defense and deadly force when the opportunity to escape was absolutely not present. Of course there is also the case of the "castle exception" which states that one cannot be expected to flee from one's own home.

Courts also tend to rule that the use of deadly force as a pre-emptive strike is also not justifiable. For example, victims of domestic abuse that end up killing the spouse because they fear that someday they will suffer lethal attacks. If there is no concrete threat, then self defense and deadly force is seen as unjustified. For more information regarding this topic, please visit the site listed below.

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