Self Defense and the Law


asked to pretend he or she is you and guess as to your state of mind: did you really honestly think or fear that you were about to be attacked? This will vary according to who you are. For instance, my mother is 70 years old, 4 feet 11 inches, and 80 pounds soaking wet. If a large, unshaven man wearing ripped leathers lumbers threateningly toward her, and she responds by whipping out her can of mace and spraying him and then kicking him in the groin (go Mom!), a jury might decide that my mother was being reasonable in fearing for her safety - especially if she had previously been the victim of a violent crime. On the other hand, if my former college roommate - 6 foot 3 inches, a former football player who is still in fairly good physical shape - responds similarly, the jury might subjectively decide that John (not his real name) was not being reasonable in assuming that he was about to be attacked.

It is NOT self defense, even if the other guy swung first, if the reason the guy was trying to bash your brains in was because you called him a racial or religious epithet and proceeded to suggest that you have intimate knowledge of his mother's sexual habits. You cannot provoke someone into taking a swing at you just so you can apply a flying arm bar and stomp on his ribs, then protest that it was only self defense since he attacked first. To be sure, the other guy will be arrested. But so will you.

What you are allowed to do in defending yourself

The law generally only allows a proportional response in self defense. You must stop your counter once the immediate threat of attack has been stopped - even if you know that it's only temporary. The key word is "immediate." If a guy takes a swing at you, you can block it and counter punch. If it stuns him, you must stop and back away, even if he's still snarling and yelling that you're a dead man and it's obvious he's going to take another swing at you once he figures out where you are. (Backing away might not be the smart or correct thing to do if your goal is to make sure you aren't injured or beaten, but it is nevertheless only legal action you can take. Like

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