I. Insufficient Evidence
II. Statute of Limitations
III. Mistake of Fact
The defendant is not guilty of (the crime) if he did not have the intent or mental state required to commit the crime because he reasonably did not know a fact or reasonably and mistakenly believed a fact. If the defendant’s conduct would have been lawful under the facts as he reasonably believed them to be, he did not commit.
IV. Violation of your Rights
V. Reasonable Mistake as to Age
VI. Reasonable Belief as to Consent
VII. Intoxication
VIII. Insanity
You were legally insane if:
- When you committed the crime, you had a mental disease or defect; AND
- Because of that disease or defect, you were incapable of knowing or understanding the nature and quality of your act or were incapable of knowing or understanding that your act was morally or legally wrong.
IX. Entrapment
X. Necessity
- in an emergency, and
- in order to prevent “significant bodily harm or evil” to either yourself or someone else.
XI. Self Defense
The amount of force you can use to defend must be reasonable in relation to the threatened harm. For example, if a person bumps into you or pushes you, you cannot go into your home and get a chainsaw to cut the other person to pieces. If someone strikes you with their hand, reasonable responses would dictated you would be able to defend yourself by also using your hands to strike back.
XII. Claim of Right/Title
You obtained property under a claim of right if you believed in good faith that you had a right to the specific property or a specific amount of money, and you then openly took it.
In this case, you may hold a belief in good faith even if the belief is mistaken or unreasonable. But if you were aware of facts that made that belief completely unreasonable, then the claim is not reasonable. For example, showing up to a dealership and taking a car for a test drive and keeping that car forever, is not reasonable.
XIII. Duress
For example, a person tells you that your family has been kidnapped, and if you do not rob a specific bank, they will be killed. They then show you pictures of your family in distress. Here, you thought your family was in imminent fear of death if you failed to follow the directions of the kidnappers.