DEFENSES TO PROSECUTION
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◦
Violations
 Example: Traffic tickets
◦
Misdemeanor
 Example: 1st offense DWI
◦
Felony
 Example: Murder
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Battered Woman Syndrome
Defense:
◦ History of abuse
◦ In fear of injury or death
from a probable assault by
the actor
◦ Actions based on the
assault history of the actor
against the victim
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A husband comes home every night and
physically abuses his wife. One night, the
battered woman hears her abuser opening the
door of their home. She waits for him just inside
the door and hits him over the head with an iron
skillet when he opens the door. The man dies
from the blow to the head. The wife is able to
file the “Battered Woman Syndrome Defense”
against prosecution.
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PMS Defense
◦ A defense in
England and other
European
countries
◦ Not used in the US
to this date
◦ Similar to the
insanity plea
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 What
is PTSD?
◦ Post Traumatic Stress
Disorder
◦ Veterans of combat
◦ Based on hardships and
experiences endured in
combat
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Do all Veterans have PTSD?
◦ The law specifically states Vietnam Veterans
◦ But any veteran can claim the PTSD defense if
he can show such traumatic experiences
triggered his reaction
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A combat veteran who had witnessed the
horrors of war is walking down the street. He
sees a boy lying on the ground curled up in a
defensive position. A pool of blood surrounds
the boy’s body. A grown man is beating the
boy with a steel rod. The veteran reacts
instantaneously to the boys outcry of pain and
kills the boy’s assailant. The veteran reacted
just as he would have in combat. Therefore,
he can fall upon the PTSD defense.
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Who is a Juvenile?
◦ In the State of Texas
a juvenile is defined
as any child not
older than 16 years
of age and not
younger than 10
years of age
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Why are juvenile laws different?
◦ Broken a law or in need of
supervision
◦ “Civil Offenses”
◦ Records sealed at 17 (unless
continued record of criminal activity)
◦ Sealed records cannot be opened
without a court order
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
What happens when arrested?
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦
“Taken into Custody”
Transported
Taken before a Magistrate
Written or oral statement
Fingerprinted and
photographed
◦ Released or turned over
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
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Coerced or forced by another person to
commit a crime
No criminal history
Fear of:
◦
◦
◦
◦
Bodily Injury
Exposure
Injury of another
Death
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
“Enticed” to commit a
crime
No criminal history
Never seen committing
such a crime
Law enforcement
provides means and
motivation
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A law enforcement officer goes into a
neighborhood where a majority of the
people are starving. He leaves a bag of
groceries sitting on the hood of a car, waits,
and arrests the person who takes the
abandoned food.
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

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Impossible to control
conduct
Emotions not normal
Outside factors impact
action
Action of another triggers
impulse to act
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A man has not eaten anything for weeks. He is
walking down the street and sees a display of
apples in a cart in front of a grocery store. The
starving person walks by the store and grabs
two apples, immediately beginning to eat one of
them. A police officer sees the offense and
places the person under arrest for theft.
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


Police are justified in their use of
force
The action defends another
The action prevents serious harm
to themselves
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Avoid a greater evil or crime
Had no other choice
Fear of consequences if they did not commit
the crime
Any other normal, prudent person would have
made the same decision
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A woman is drowning in flood waters. Her arm is
wedged under a fallen tree. Blood is pouring
out of her arm and the flood waters are rising. A
man finds her. In fear that she will drown or
bleed to death before other help can arrive, he
amputates her arm in order to free her. The
greater evil would have been to let the woman
drown or slowly die from blood loss.
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Result of
happenstance
 Harm not planned
 No intent to harm
 No influencing factors

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A worker is rebuilding a brick ledge. He has a
scaffolding set up on the sidewalk with a warning
sign. He turns to add another cleaned brick to
the pile, sneezes and accidentally knocks an
existing brick from the pile. A person passing
underneath the scaffolding is struck by the brick
and suffers the serious bodily injury of a skull
fracture. The workers defense is “Accidental.”
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


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Defending oneself
No pre-meditation
A normal, prudent person
would have reacted in the
same manner
One level of force greater
than the force being used
against you
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
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
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Not in control of one’s
senses at the time of the
crime
Emotionally driven
Actions contrary to
personality
The jury decides whether
to accept a plea of insanity
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A father comes home and finds a man
attempting to rape his daughter. The father
reacts violently in defense of his daughter, and
beats the attacker over the head with an object
within his reach. His defense is Temporary
Insanity, due to his mental state when he saw
his daughter being attacked.
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
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
Incapable of determining right from wrong
Provable in court
The jury agrees
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
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Texas Code of Criminal Procedure and Texas State Penal Code
http://www.statutes.legis.state.tx.us/
Battered Woman Syndrome Defense
http://www.essays.cc/free_essays/d5/arn49.shtml
PTSD in the Forensic Setting
http://dpa.state.ky.us/library/manuals/mental/Ch15.html
Supreme Court Case: The State Of Washington v. Joseph Henry Maish
http://www.mrsc.org/mc/courts/supreme/029wn2d/029wn2d0052.htm
Entrapment and Due Process
http://www.law.fsu.edu/journals/lawreview/frames/253/lordtxt.html
Do an Internet search for the following:
◦ Review journal killer’s mental illness recedes
◦ Defense Witness Calls Death of Cop's Wife Accidental
◦ TPI Crim 40.04
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