• 1985 - Duress
  • K-4.05
    • Affirmative Defenses
    • Affirmative Defenses
    • Defenses
    • Force
  • It is an affirmative defense that the actor engaged in the prohibited conduct because of threat of imminent death or serious bodily injury to the actor or to another.

     

    [In a prosecution for an offense that does not constitute a felony, it is an affirmative defense that the actor engaged in the prohibited conduct because of force or threat of force.]

     

    Compulsion in this context exists only if the force, threat, or circumstances are such as would render a person of reasonable firmness incapable of resisting the pressure.

     

    [The defense of duress is not available to a person who voluntarily entered into a criminal enterprise or otherwise willfully entered a situation in which it was foreseeable that the person would be subject to duress.]

     

    [The defense is not available to a person who negligently entered a situation in which it was foreseeable that the person would be subjected to duress. Negligence suffices to establish culpability for the offense charged.]

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    • 12.1-05-10
  • Notes: Follow this instruction with NDJI K - 4.30, Affirmative Defense - Burden of Proof. (2005 - reviewed with no changes)