DEFINITION OF SELF DEFENCE
A: The defense of "self defense" is what's called an "affirmative defense." The prosecution must disprove self-defense beyond a reasonable doubt.
While the law on self-defense usually varies by state, generally a person is justified in using physical force when it's necessary to defend himself or a third person from what he reasonably believes the use or imminent use of unlawful physical force by the other person.
How much force can you exert in self-defense? Only the amount you reasonably believe is necessary to defend yourself or another person from an unlawful use of force.
Can you ever respond to an attack or threat of an attack by using deadly force? Deadly physical force may be used only if you reasonably believe:
A lesser degree of force is inadequate to stop the other person, and
You or another person is in imminent danger of being killed or seriously injured
You aren't justified in using physical force if you provoke the use of unlawful physical force by another person. And you can't justify your use of force if you're the initial aggressor - meaning you started the fight - unless you stop using force first and the other person continues using force.
Some states have "make my day" or "castle" laws that let people use deadly physical force against an intruders they believe have unlawfully entered their home with the intent to commit a crime once inside. These laws assume that citizens have a right to expect absolute safety within their homes.
Women often plead that they killed in self-defense, a plea that requires proof that the woman used such force as was necessary to avoid imminent bodily harm. Self-defense was originally intended to cover unexpected attacks by strangers and did not take into account a past history of abuse or a woman's fear of renewed violence. Traditionally applied, a self-defense plea does not exonerate a woman who kills during a lull in the violence, for example, when the drunken abuser passes out.
Many observers feel that self-defense law is problematic, inadequate, and/or not appropriate for use in self-defense cases of battered women, according to Diane Follingstad et al. in "The Impact of Elements of Self-Defense and Objective versus Subjective Instructions on Jurors'Verdicts for Battered Women Defendants" (Journal of Interpersonal Violence, vol. 12, no. 5, 1997). Traditionally, self-defense permits an individual to use physical force when he or she reasonably believes it is necessary to counteract imminent or immediate danger of serious bodily harm. Furthermore, a person must use only a reasonable amount of force to stop the attack and cannot be the one who provoked the encounter or initiated the violence. To justify the use of reciprocal deadly force, most jurisdictions require that the defendant reasonably believes the attacker is using or is about to use deadly force. Some jurisdictions further require that before resorting to deadly force, the defendant must make an effort to retreat, although this is not required in most courts if the attack took place in the defendant's own home.
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