You can use the duress defense to argue that you were compelled or forced to commit the crime you are charged with. This legal defense can enable you to have your charges dismissed if you can prove that you were coerced to commit a crime because you were threatened or your life was at risk. You should know how to use this defense to obtain a positive outcome and the consequences it could have on your case once you go to trial.
The legal process can be overwhelming. Therefore, you want to hire a competent criminal attorney who will help you prove without a reasonable doubt that you were coerced into committing the crime you are being accused of. Your lawyer will also evaluate the details of your case, establish the right defense strategy, and represent your interests in court to have your charges dismissed.
An Overview of Duress Defense
Committing a crime under duress in California means committing a crime after being compelled to commit it due to threats or physical force from someone else. The threat has to be imminent and place you in reasonable fear of being killed or causing the death of a loved one if you do not follow the orders given. This means that general fear or stress is insufficient to justify your actions; there has to be something threatening in front of you, such as a gun.
For the duress defense to be effective, you should prove that you had no other option but to commit the crime. Otherwise, the judge could dismiss this defense if you had an option not to commit the crime or to escape. The threat also has to be actual and imminent at the time the crime was being committed.
What You Should Prove for a Successful Duress Defense Claim
The use of duress as a defense to a crime is governed by legal elements. These elements should be provided to show that you were forced to act and had no choice but to commit the crime. They include the following:
- You must have been in a situation where you were at an immediate risk of being killed or physically harmed. The threat you faced could not have been obscured or related to harm you could have experienced in the future. The threat has to be imminent.
For example, if a person is being threatened with a gun pointed at them that they will be killed instantly if they do not engage in a burglary crime, then this would be enough to encompass the aspect of duress. However, when the danger is not immediate or can be prevented, the defense of duress cannot be used.
- A reasonable person in your shoes must have thought the threat would be effected. You should prove that your fear that the threat will be carried out was genuine and realistic under the circumstances for duress defense to be applicable in your defense. However, if you had an irrational or unfounded fear, you would not convince the jury that you committed the crime under duress. The judge will examine the odds of another person having the same kind of fear you had given the same circumstances.
- There was no reasonable way you could have avoided the crime. The duress defense is not applicable if you could have safely retreated, requested assistance, or declined to obey without risking harm.
You cannot use the duress defense if you voluntarily exposed yourself to danger or if you could have avoided the crime. You should prove that you had no reasonable way to avoid the threat or escape the situation without committing the crime.
- The duress was connected to the crime. You can use the duress defense if you only committed the crime because you were coerced. You have to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the crime was committed only because of imminent danger against you. Your lawyer could argue that you had no option but to commit the offense. The defense would not be applicable if you had the free will to commit the crime.
Definition of Terms
Imminent Danger
Imminent danger refers to a threat that is immediate and one that you cannot avoid. In California, duress can only be used as a defense if you were put in a position where you were likely to be exposed to imminent serious physical violence or killed. The danger must be immediate and not a threat to be faced in the future or a possibility of a threat.
For example, if you were threatened and the perpetrator told you, “Go ahead and commit this crime, or else I will kill you on the spot,” then that would be considered an imminent threat. However, if the perpetrator said, “If you do not commit this offense today, I will hurt you next week,” the defense of duress would probably not be admitted because the threat is not imminent.
Imminent danger also means you have no time to think or turn to someone else for assistance. This means that the duress defense would not be invoked where there was a chance of not causing harm without committing the crime.
Reasonable Fear
To use the duress defense, the fear that you must have had has to be objective and rational. You must have believed that harm or death would be inflicted on you or a loved one if you did not do as you were compelled to do. The fear cannot be imagined or exaggerated; it has to be authentic and real-time.
For your fear to be deemed authentic and warranted, the court will use objectivity to determine the reasonableness of your fear. The court will also examine whether another person would have felt the same fear as you and acted in the same manner considering your circumstances. If the fear was not reasonable, then the duress plea will not work.
Burden of Proof
If you are to rely on duress as your defense, you will have to prove it. You should prove that it is more likely than not that you committed the crime because of an imminent danger. You should also convince the jury that you are innocent beyond reasonable doubt and present evidence supporting your defense of duress.
Therefore, you have to introduce evidence that would make the jury believe that you had no other option but to commit the crime, that the threat was imminent and credible, and that the life-threatening fear was reasonable. If you cannot fulfill this burden, the duress defense will fail, and you could be convicted of the crime.
No Way to Avoid the Crime
In a duress defense, you should demonstrate that there was no way you could have evaded the threat without committing the crime. You must also have no practical means of escaping the threat or harm. This means you could not have escaped safely, called the police, or done something else to protect yourself from harm.
If there were any chance for you to avoid committing the crime, like looking for assistance or a way to escape, then the duress defense would not apply. The court will scrutinize whether you had no choice but to submit to the demand under threat.
Being Coerced
In a duress defense, you must prove that someone forced you into committing the act by threatening you with serious bodily harm or a death threat. When force or threat is used to compel you into committing a crime against your will, it is known as coercion. Coercion is about the force that one applies, making it impossible for you to resist the force and do otherwise.
Example of a Crime Committed under Duress Case Scenario
Jane, a taxi driver on standby waiting for her client, is approached by two men. Peter, holding a gun against her and Jimmy. Peter tells Jane to drive them to a nearby bank. When they arrive at the bank, they push Jane forward and tell her that she must help them carry the money they will steal to the car, and if she refuses, she will be shot.
Here, Jane could defend herself by arguing that she was compelled to aid in a bank robbery.
The Limitation of Duress Defense
While the duress defense can be powerful, it comes with significant limitations. In California, duress defense cannot be pleaded in certain circumstances. They include the following:
You Placed Yourself In A Threatening Situation
You may be unable to use duress if you knowingly placed yourself in a risky situation or mixed with people who would force you into committing the crime. The court may decide that you should have predicted the risks, so you cannot use coercion as a defense.
You are Facing Murder Charges
In California, duress cannot be used as a defense when facing murder charges. Even if you were forced to kill someone due to threats of harm, the law does not recognize duress as a reason for killing another person.
Duress Defense in a Civil Trial
The defense of duress can apply in some civil cases. For example, if you signed a contract due to force or threat, you can argue that the contract is not valid. In such cases, duress can be used to seek annulment or rescission of the contract because you were compelled to enter into it. When the defense of duress is used in civil cases, it is said to be economic duress.
Advantages of Attempting to Have the Charges Against You Withdrawn
When you are charged with a criminal offense, the best thing that can happen is for the charges to be dismissed. This is only possible when you successfully establish your duress defense. Some of the advantages of having your charges dismissed include the following:
Avoiding a Criminal Record
If you are acquitted, you avoid a criminal record. A conviction can follow you for the rest of your life, affecting employment opportunities, housing, and relationships.
Freedom from Penalties
Through the dismissal of your charges, you are not likely to face the consequences that accompany a conviction, including imprisonment, fines, and probation.
Preserving Your Reputation
A criminal conviction is often made publicly, which could ruin your reputation among your friends, coworkers, and family. Having your charges dismissed could assist in clearing your name, especially if the charges were made public.
Emotional Relief
The stress of a criminal case can damage your mental and emotional well-being. Having the charges dropped can provide relief, as you will be free from legal and personal repercussions.
Defenses Related to Duress
While self-defense and necessity defenses aim to excuse criminal behavior under extreme circumstances, they are distinct from the duress defense in crucial ways.
Necessity
Necessity involves committing a crime to avoid more significant harm that results from natural forces or events and not due to the influence of another person. For example, if you invade someone else’s compound to avoid a fire, you can legally argue that it was necessary to do so. Here, it is not threats from another person but circumstances that cannot be controlled from the outside, making you commit the crime.
Self- Defense
Self-defense comes into play when you commit a crime with the intent of protecting your own life or that of another person. When you are forced to commit a crime under duress, self-defense enables you to use force to defend yourself and others.
For example, if someone challenges you to a fight and you overpower them and end up inflicting serious injuries on them, the self-defense argument comes in handy to explain why you had to do so. Also, the force used in self-defense has to be reasonable and proportional to the threat posed.
How Your Criminal Defense Lawyer Can Assist
Your criminal defense lawyer can help in the following ways:
Objectively Evaluate the Circumstances of Your Case
A defense attorney is responsible for an impartial assessment of the circumstances of your case. This is because, under pressure, it is easy to make wrong decisions emotionally rather than stick to the facts, which an attorney will help present.
This objectivity is important when establishing if the legal definition of duress under California law will apply to your case. The legal defense of duress is stated in California Penal Code Section 26 to the effect that you are not legally guilty of a crime if you were compelled to commit the act by force or fear in ascertaining that you would be killed or subjected to great bodily harm.
Your attorney will examine police reports, witness statements, and any other evidence to ensure these statutory conditions have been fulfilled. This professional detachment from the case ensures that no stone is left unturned and that the defense strategy is objective and factual rather than an emotionally charged reaction.
Investigate Your Situation
Another aspect of a proper duress defense is building the evidence that proves that you need to act under duress in order to present a proper defense. Your lawyer will then investigate your case fully to establish all facts that relate to your case.
In California, to properly claim duress, you have to prove that you were threatened with imminent and serious harm and were left with no other viable choice but to perform the act in question, all the while acting out of fear for your life or for serious bodily injury. This is provided for under California Penal Code Section 26.
Your attorney will gather and review evidence, including:
- Witness testimonies: The people who may have personally witnessed or heard of the coercion can give you more details about the pressure that you had.
- Physical evidence: Any communication that you, as the victim, received, whether through written text in the form of threatening text messages or threatening emails or phone conversations such as the one in question, where the respondent left a threatening voicemail message on your cell phone, can go a long way toward showing the level of coercion that you had to endure.
- Circumstantial evidence: The relationship between you and the person applying pressure will be considered contextual factors to help you build a defense.
Furthermore, your attorney may work with expert witnesses such as psychologists who will explain how fear and a feared imminent action may influence the capacity to act willingly. This is very important in an effort to convince the court that your actions were not voluntary but as a result of an imminent danger.
Find a Van Nuys Defense Lawyer Near Me
If you are facing criminal charges due to coercion, you should retain the services of an experienced criminal defense lawyer who can effectively use the “duress defense” strategy. At Leah Legal in Van Nuys, we have lawyers who specialize in handling cases of clients under duress.
We will assess your case and collect all the evidence that will enable us to defend your case so that the charges against you can be dropped or reduced. Contact us today at 818-484-1100 to learn how we can legally protect you.