Also known as: defence · defendant · defend · defenses · defensive · legal defense · affirmative defense
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
An assertion or argument advanced by a defendant to defeat or mitigate the claim or charge brought by the plaintiff or prosecutor.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Destiny Davis drove her car at high speed through a residential area while texting. When she struck and killed a pedestrian, prosecutors charged her with murder. Her attorney raised a defense that the conduct amounted only to criminal negligence, not the higher recklessness required for murder. The court accepted the defense and reduced the charge to involuntary manslaughter.
Diego Duarte was indicted for bank fraud but the government delayed his trial for three years while pursuing other leads. His counsel moved to dismiss on the ground that the delay violated his right to a speedy trial. The court granted the defense and dismissed the indictment with prejudice.
Denise Donovan filed an answer asserting a novel interpretation of a statute that had never been adopted by any court. Opposing counsel moved for sanctions under Rule 11. The court denied sanctions because the defense presented a nonfrivolous argument for extending existing law.
Dylan Duffy was charged with assault. He offered evidence that the alleged victim had a reputation for violence. The prosecutor then introduced evidence of Duffy's own violent character. The court admitted both sets of evidence under the rule allowing rebuttal of a victim's pertinent trait.
Damian Decker agreed to represent a client charged with embezzlement in exchange for a percentage of any funds the client recovered in a parallel civil suit. The ethics board sanctioned Decker because the arrangement constituted a contingent fee in a criminal case.
Daniel Diaz's negligent driving caused a chain reaction that ultimately damaged a parked car. He raised a defense that an independent superseding event broke the chain of legal cause. The court rejected the defense and held Diaz responsible for the full harm.
A defense negates an element of the plaintiff's or prosecutor's case. An affirmative defense assumes the allegations are true but offers additional facts that defeat the claim, and the defendant bears the burden of proof on it.
Supporting sources
Yes. Under the applicable evidence rule a defendant may offer evidence of an alleged victim's pertinent trait, after which the prosecutor may rebut with evidence of the defendant's same trait.
No. The applicable professional conduct rule prohibits a contingent fee for representing a defendant in a criminal case.
…a declaratory judgment that the Texas abortion statutes were unconstitutional on their face, and an injunction restraining the defendant from enforcing the statutes. A three-judge District Court for the Northern District of Texas, to which the action was referred, held that the Does and Hallford had no standing to sue, but…