What are 5 Defenses to Criminal Conduct?

Criminal law is the law section mandated to oversee the definition, regulation, and determination of any criminal offense in the US and many other organized societies. According to the definitions outlined in various criminal statutes, offenses are classified depending on your jurisdiction or the crime scene. After being charged with a specific act that qualifies as criminal conduct in your jurisdiction, the first natural question would be to know all the legal defenses available for you; This is why you need a criminal defense attorney expert like JacksonWhite Law. Attorneys with extensive experience in criminal defense will have all the relevant defense strategies and trick up their sleeves no matter the nature of your criminal case. 

What happens During a Criminal Trial? 

After being accused of an alleged crime and going to trial, a defendant is entitled to defend themselves through a range of available criminal defense strategies; This is in a bid to nullify or discredit the prosecutor’s account by poking holes in the evidence presented against them. On the other hand, the prosecution has the burden of proving the defendant’s guilt. The defendant is presumed innocent until every element surrounding the criminal case is proven beyond a reasonable doubt. The anticipated “burden of proof” in a criminal case is heavy on the prosecution. With a good criminal lawyer by their side, a defendant can significantly impact the ruling to their favor. 

There are many viable defenses defendants can raise. While some are raised with the intent of poking holes in the validity of the prosecution’s case, some are affirmative and must be proven by their own account. This article will look into some of the 5 general and most common defenses to criminal cases that defendants and attorneys use. Read on!

1. No Crime Occurred (Innocence)

This is the most straightforward defense to a criminal conduct case where the defendant claims not to have committed the alleged crime. This will focus the ball on the prosecution, who are expected to prove the defendant’s guilt on every element related to the crime beyond a reasonable doubt. Although the defendant doesn’t have to prove anything after claiming innocence, they have the right to present questions, testimonies, documents, and anything relevant that could support their innocence claim. In the case of a rape allegation, the defense of consent is also a defense of innocence, as no crime occurred. For this case, they may argue that although sexual intercourse occurred, there was consent, so no rape crime occurred. 

2. Mistake of Law or Fact

For a criminal offense to be proven to have occurred, major fundamental elements making up the crime must be proper. For instance, a criminal conduct case may be ruled out because a critical aspect negates the specific criminal intent. Mistake defenses can either be a mistake of fact or law. The former is more common as a mistake defense as ignorance of the law is generally not considered a defense. 

3. Self Defense and Defense of Others

4. Insanity or Diminished Capacity

Defenses from Insanity or temporarily diminished capacity due to intoxication are categorized as excuse defenses. They are not meant to warrant that what the defendant did was right but that they should not be held accountable given their mental state at the time of the crime. A defendant can be found not guilty of a criminal conduct case based on determining that they were legally insane when doing the crime. 

5. Duress or Coercion 

Coercion is also considered as one of the excuse defenses. A defendant can use duress as a defense to prove that they were coerced into doing a crime they would otherwise not do. For a dress to be viable, the defense must prove an imminent threat of death or serious bodily harm that made the defendant act based on fear. There should also be no means of escaping the threat.