|
THE LAW OF SELF-DEFENSE IN ILLINOIS
Illinois Statute 720 Section 5/7-1.
"Use of Force in Defense of Person: A person is justified in the use of force against another when and to the extent that he reasonably believes that such conduct is necessary to defend himself or another against such other's imminent use of unlawful force. However, he is justified in the use of force which is intended or likely to cause death or great bodily harm only if he reasonably believes that such force is necessary to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm to himself or another, or the commission of a forcible felony."
What does this mean in plain English?
The law must be reviewed in two parts, depending on whether non-lethal force or
lethal force is used.
However, applicable to both of these levels of self-defense is the issue of
Reasonable Belief, which also consists of two-parts: a subjective and objective belief.
Subjective Belief - this addresses whether the person defending himself/herself honestly believed that an attack was imminent.
- The subjective test is most difficult to disprove, as since determining what the defender was thinking at the time of the attack is next to impossible.
Objective Belief - this addresses whether an
ordinary and reasonable person in the defender's shoes would believe that an
attack was imminent.
- The objective test is easier and more flexible, because it is based on a hypothetical "ordinary and reasonable person", which is open to a great deal of interpretation.
---------------------------------------------
ASSUMING THAT THE DEFENDER PASSES BOTH THE SUBJECTIVE AND OBJECTIVE TEST, THE NEXT QUESTION DEALS WITH THE ACTUAL FORCE USED IN THE SPECIFIC SITUATION. IT IS IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND THAT WHETHER A PERSON CAN SUCCESSFULLY ARGUE SELF-DEFENSE WILL DEPEND ENTIRELY ON THE FACTS OF THE
PARTICULAR OCCURRENCE.
--------------------------------------------
USE OF SELF-DEFENSE IS JUSTIFIED, BUT ONLY IF:
The defender meets three requirements which demonstrate that self-defense was
necessary AND the amount of force used was appropriate:
1) The force used must seem necessary to prevent the attack;
2) The force used must have been proportional to the gravity of the attack;
AND;
3) The threat of force by the attacker must have been immediate and imminent.
USE OF DEADLY FORCE IS ONLY JUSTIFIED IF:
In Illinois, a person has a lawful right to use deadly force "only if he reasonably
believes that such force is necessary to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm to himself, or another, or the commission of a forcible felony."
(Deadly Force = that amount of force which is intended
or likely to cause death or great bodily harm.)
REMEMBER that the danger here is that when you are attacked you must try to use only that amount of force which is used against you. If someone merely pushes you and you counter with a killing blow, such as a strike to the throat, then it will be very difficult for you to argue that what you did was justifiable self-defense, unless there were other factors involved like a weapon or multiple attackers.
|
|
