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The Defense of Duress

By Baker Associates

Every criminal case is different, and there are situations where it is simply best for a criminal defendant to say "OK, I did it," rather than trying to fight the case out in court. Admitting responsibility for a particular occurrence does not, however, mean that an individual is admitting that he or she is guilty of a crime. There are defenses, called affirmative defenses, that an individual can raise in court that negate that individual's guilt from a legal standpoint while still allowing them to admit that they may have taken action that would otherwise render them guilty of criminal conduct. The most well known of the affirmative defenses is probably self-defense, which is an affirmative defense often raised in homicide trials. The affirmative defense of duress is lesser known, but can still be an effective tool in criminal trials where the evidence is seemingly unfavorable to the defendant...continue to full post

Full post as published by Tennessee Criminal Lawyer Blog on March 21, 2011 (boomark / email).