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Defenses

Explore key defense strategies in criminal law, including alibi, self-defense, legal duty, mental disorder, intoxication, consent, and more. Learn how defense attorneys navigate the legal system and protect individual rights.

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Defenses

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  1. Defenses Alibi Self-Defense Legal Duty Excusable Conduct Mental Disorder Intoxication Automatism ConsentEntrapment Mistake of Fact Double Jeopardy 1- Prove the accused is not guilty 2- Convict of a lesser offense

  2. The best possible defense. Must be offered as early as possible to maintain credibility. Offers an explanation as to the whereabouts of the accused at the time of the offense. Defenses: Alibi

  3. May defend: yourself, those under your protection, movable and real property, home. Force must be “necessary”. Force must be “reasonable”. Section 38- Stopping a Thief Section 40- Defending Your Home Defenses: Self Defense

  4. Certain people, by virtue of their profession, in certain situations. Police officers → speeding, force in arresting. Defenses: Legal Duty

  5. Provocation Duress R v. Morgentaler: “urgent situations of clear and imminent peril when compliance with the law is demonstrably impossible” Honest Mistake But not ignorance of law Defenses: Duress

  6. Section 2- Definitions Fitness to Stand Trial Forensic Psychiatry Understanding proceedings Understanding consequences of proceeding Communicating with counsel Fitness at time of Offense Vincent Li Defenses: Mental Disorder

  7. General vs. Specific Intent Offenses Limitations, especially in sexual offense cases. Why? Recall, intoxication itself can be an offense (in public, while driving, etc). Defenses: Intoxication

  8. “unconscious, involuntary behaviour… the state of a person who, though capable of action, is not conscious of what he is doing” Element of consciousness. Where else do we see this? Sleepwalking, convulsions, psychological stress. Cases Defenses: Automatism

  9. Used in assault cases (professional sports), some sexual offenses. May never be used for firearms, murder or sexual offenses under the age of consent. Defenses: Consent

  10. Abuse of police power. Not a true defense; results in a stay of proceedings. Defenses: Entrapment

  11. Generally, ignorance of the law not acceptable. Why? Mistake of Fact accepted if: Genuine and not a result of neglect. Law states this defense is acceptable. Counterfeit Money Possession of Stolen Goods Defenses: Mistake of Fact

  12. Section 11- Definition is a procedural defence that forbids a defendant from being tried again on the same (or similar) charges following a legitimate acquittal or conviction. Two options Autrefois acquit Autrefois convict Defenses: Double Jeopardy

  13. TheProfession Click in slideshow view for link to article. • What stood out to you from a moral perspective? From a legal perspective? • How do defense attorneys live the maxim, “It is better for 100 guilty people to go free than one innocent person be imprisoned.”? To what extend do you agree with this statement? • Do you have personal experience with someone practicing as a defense attorney (parents, friend, etc)? What have you noticed about their practice, their career, their orientation to their work?

  14. What role do defense attorneys play in the Canadian legal system? (technical/practical, philosophical?) What are the unique challenges of a defense lawyer? What role do defense attorneys play in mediating the relationship between the state and the individual? Should individuals have the right to represent themselves at trial? Gregory Peck as Atticus Finch in To Kill A Mockingbird (1962)

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