What is an excuse defense?
Asked by: Prof. Paige Fisher IV | Last update: June 16, 2025Score: 4.3/5 (53 votes)
Most criminal defenses fall under two categories: excuse and exculpation. An excuse exempts a person from potential liability because that person belongs to a group sharing a common characteristic.
What is an example of an excuse defense?
For example, if a motorist is charged with DUI , they may use an excuse defense if the driver was driving an injured person to a hospital, and there was no alternative way to send the injured person to the hospital under that circumstance.
What is meant by an excusable defense?
Excuse defenses are used when the actor's mental state or belief demonstrate that he should not be held responsible for the criminal act. Excuse defenses include insanity, diminished capacity, duress, mistake, infancy and entrapment. Insanity.
What is an excuse for self-defense?
Although self-defense first appeared in law as an excuse, in the 20th century it has been classified as a justification. Justified conduct is otherwise criminal conduct that under specifiable circumstances does not harm society.
What is not qualified as an excuse defense?
In California and elsewhere in the United States, ignorance of the law cannot be used as a defense as per a fundamental legal principle. People charged with criminal offenses would begin claiming ignorance if it was accepted as an excuse.
Defenses: Module 5 of 5
Is mistake an excuse defense?
California Legal Defenses: Mistake Of Fact
If a defendant has an honest and reasonable mistake of fact regarding their behavior or actions, they may not have the required criminal intent to be held criminally liable. One example involves allegations of Petty Theft pursuant to California Penal Code Section 484(a) PC.
Is ignorance of fact an excuse?
Term: IGNORANTIA FACTI EXCUSAT. Definition: Ignorance of fact is an excuse. This means that if someone does something wrong because they didn't know all the facts, they might not be punished for it. However, this doesn't apply if the person should have known better or if they made the same mistake twice.
Is duress an excuse defense?
While duress is not a justification for committing a crime, it can serve as an excuse when a defendant committed a crime because they were facing the threat or use of physical force. The defense must establish that a reasonable person in the defendant's position also would have committed the crime.
How do you justify self-defense?
In order to invoke self-defense, certain conditions must be met such as unlawful aggression, reasonable necessity of the means employed to prevent or repel it, and lack of sufficient provocation on the part of the person defending himself. Anent the 1st element, the aggression must be unlawful.
What is the difference between a reason and an excuse?
A 'Reason' is considered a fair and logical justification for not participating in something. An 'Excuse' is a pretence or subterfuge that can logically be overcome. For example a Reason may be – that it is physically impossible to participate in exercise such as holidays, ongoing obligations elsewhere or broken leg.
What are the excusable Defences?
Excusable defences refer to the provisions contained from Section 76 to Section 95. These are provisions where the act committed by a person is excused due to the lack of mens rea. These exceptions in essence deal with the absence of mens rea as the rationale for exemption from criminal liability.
What is an example of excusable?
When you're able to forgive someone for an offense or error, it is also excusable. A little boy's extreme excitement on his birthday is excusable, and lying around all day watching TV is excusable when you're home sick.
What is the difference between a justification and an excuse defense?
The defense of justification is applied when acts are carried out to prevent or redress harm. Excuse, on the other hand, is a defense that asserts the actor's mental inability to consciously do evil. The article discusses the historical evolution of legal exculpation, noting the emphasis on excuse in the last century.
Is necessity an excuse defense?
A necessity defense is an affirmative defense and a justification defense. Necessity is very similar to duress and the two defenses are sometimes indistinguishable. Both defenses claim an actor's illegal conduct was justified due to the threat of harm.
What is the paradox of excuse defenses?
What is the paradox of excuse defenses? While they are essential, they are also controversial.
What is considered duress?
Duress is the act of using force, coercion, threats, or psychological pressure, among other things, to get someone to act against their wishes. If a person acts under duress, they are not acting of their own free will and so may be treated accordingly in court proceedings.
Is self-defense an excuse or justification?
Unlike insanity, which provides an excuse, self-defense is a justification. What's the difference? An excuse holds that a person committed a wrongful act but should nonetheless avoid responsibility—insanity, entrapment, and duress are excuses.
Is explaining the same as defending?
There can be an almost indiscernible difference between explaining and defending. Perhaps a key difference is in how they are interpreted.
Why should you not justify yourself?
Justifying has an emotional cost, which can erode our self-esteem. When we repeatedly make excuses, we reinforce a sense of inadequacy and guilt, weakening our self-confidence. We communicate our imperfections to ourselves and minimize our self-worth, so others approve of us.
What do excuse defenses include?
With an excuse defense the defendant admits what he did was wrong but argues that under the cir- cumstances he is not responsible for the improper con- duct. Examples of excuse defenses include duress, intoxication, mistake, age, and insanity, Duress Duress may be raised as a defense in a limited number of situations.
What is coercive self-defense?
Utilizing coercion in a defense strategy relies on an ability to clearly establish a belief that a person committed the alleged crime only because they had a reasonable fear of imminent reprisal if they did not indeed commit the crime. Reprisal can include fear of serious bodily injury or death to themselves or others.
What is entrapment defense?
THE ENTRAPMENT DEFENSE IS USED WHEN AN ACCUSED PERSON ALLEGES THAT HE NEVER WOULD HAVE COMMITTED A CRIME IF A LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER HAD NOT INSPIRED, INCITED, PERSUADED AND LURED HIM. THE VARIOUS POLICY REASONS UNDERLYING THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE DEFENSE ARE DISCUSSED.
Is mistake of fact an excuse defense?
(it is a basic principle of criminal law that an honest and reasonable mistake of fact can negate the mens rea requirement to a general intent crime; mistake of fact is a defense where, if the circumstances were as the accused believed them to be, the accused would not be guilty of the offense; neither the President ...
What is the legal term for not knowing?
In law, ignorantia juris non excusat (Latin for "ignorance of the law excuses not"), or ignorantia legis neminem excusat ("ignorance of law excuses no one"), is a legal principle holding that a person who is unaware of a law may not escape liability for violating that law merely by being unaware of its content.
What is the maxim of ignorantia?
The application of criminal law is said to rest on the maxim ignorantia juris, meaning ignorance of law is no excuse. The application of the maxim has from time immemorial been defended on grounds of convenience, utility, and community interests.