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The Law and Lethal Force The student of Self--Defense and Martial Arts possesses great power. The power of life and death. The law calls this power " lethal force " What the law thinks about Self-defense In the court of law excessive force is evidence of malice. If the attacker dies from the injury you inflicted after you had already put him helplessly on the ground, you can be charged with murder. You must know when to stop The law does allow the use of deadly force against an assailant only when you or another innocent person are in immediate and unavoidable danger of death or grave bodily harm. Criteria that determine such situations 1. Ability: The opponent possesses the power to kill or cripple. That power may take the form of a deadly weapon, or it may be that you are out numbered; your attacker is much larger and stronger than you; you are a disabled person being attacked by a healthy criminal; you are an elderly person attacked by a young adult; or you are a woman savagely assaulted by a man. 2. Opportunity: The opponent is capable of employing that power immediately 3. How quickly a person can close what seems like a safe distance 4. Jeopardy: The opponent is acting in such a way that you could assume He intended to kill or cripple you with a knife of stick. WHEN ALL THESE ELEMENTS ARE PRESENT, HOMICIDE IS JUSTIFIABLE UNDER THE LAW. THE PLEA IS SELF-DEFENSE The Law What you can and can not do Class discussion When do you turn into
the attacker? |