Question

Describe several situations in which compulsion, consent, or other excuses take away criminal liability.

Answer 1

There are several situations that can limit or take away criminal liability. The person charged with a crime may avoid liability by showing that the action was a result of compulsion. The defendant must admit that he/she has committed the offense, but was forced to do so in order to avoid death or serious injuries to self or others. Consider a situation where a dangerous prisoner escapes from the prison by keeping the policeman under gun point and the policeman opens the prison door due to fear. Here the policeman commits the crime of setting the prisoner free who can be a threat to the society, but under compulsion to avoid death or serious injury to self. Another situation is where a robber makes a sales executive to help him to rob a store by threatening him with a knife. In these situations the offensive acts by the policeman and the sales executive are based on compulsion and may be excused. Another defense is consent and when the action that caused harm is done with the consent of the victim, the defendant may be excused from criminal liability in certain situations. It can be used in a situation where the victim involves in a dangerous game understanding the risk and consequences. If the person gets seriously hurt accidentally during the game, consent defense may help the defendant. Another situation is that the defendant was acting under the authority, direction or advice of another and was trying to adhere to the law. For example if a police officer misguides a person to commit a crime and the person acts under the supervision of the police officer thinking that it is legal, such acts may be excused under this defense. Another situation is the one in which a child is hit by the parent or a caregiver within limits as part of disciplining the child. Here the situation involves the proper exercise of domestic authority to ensure the child’s welfare and the defendant may get excused from criminal liability. Another situation that may help to avoid criminal liability is when the defendant lacks the mental capacity. If a person undergoes serious injuries when a five year old child pushes him from the stairs, the child cannot be held criminally liable because the child does not have the mental capacity to commit the crime.