Justifiable Homicide

Please add the Victim of the Justifiable homicide to this project.

The concept of justifiable homicide in criminal law is a defense to culpable homicide (criminal or negligent homicide). Generally, there is a burden to produce exculpatory evidence in the legal defense of justification.

In most countries, a homicide is justified when there is sufficient evidence to disprove the alleged criminal act or wrongdoing (under the beyond a reasonable doubt standard for criminal charges, and preponderance of evidence standard for claims of wrongdoing, i.e. civil liability). The key to this legal defense is that it was reasonable for the subject to believe that there was an imminent and otherwise unavoidable danger of death or grave bodily harm to the innocent by the deceased, when they committed the homicide.

The term "legal intervention" is a classification incorporated into the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision, and does not denote the lawfulness or legality of the circumstances surrounding a death caused by law enforcement. For example, in 2020, legal intervention deaths i.e., deaths caused by law enforcement and other persons with legal authority to use deadly force acting in the line of duty, excluding legal executions, amounted to 1.3% of all 71,000 violence-related deaths in the United States.

What kind of homicide is justifiable?

• In the United States: A non-criminal homicide ruling, usually committed in self-defense or in defense of another, exists under United States law. A homicide may be considered justified if it is done to prevent a very serious crime, such as rape, armed robbery, manslaughter or murder.
• A person has authority under the law to kill another person in self-defense, but only if that person reasonably believes that the killing was necessary in order to prevent an imminent threat, death, or serious harm to himself or herself. (Jan 20, 2020 / By Stein & Makus)

Justifiable homicide

n. a killing without evil or criminal intent, for which there can be no blame, such as self-defense to protect oneself or to protect another or the shooting by a law enforcement officer in fulfilling his/her duties. This is not to be confused with a crime of passion or claim of diminished capacity, which refer to defenses aimed at reducing the penalty or degree of crime. (From: Legal Dictionary)

Overview of Justifiable Homicide (From: The Litvak Law Firm—Justifiable Homicide)

• Justifiable homicide is a non-criminal legal ruling that involves the taking of another person’s life under very specific circumstances that justify the action, meaning to prove it to be right, just, or reasonable. It could be an act of self-defense, or an execution handed down as a sentence for a capital crime and carried out by law enforcement. But even claiming self-defense requires the defendant to meet certain criteria according to the definitions and requirements set forth by the laws of the state where the act occurred.
• For a homicide to be justified, or blameless, the defense must show that it was reasonable for the defendant to believe that they, or another person, were in imminent and otherwise unavoidable danger of grave bodily harm or death by the deceased when the homicide was committed. A caveat to this is that the deceased was threatening to bring harm to the innocent, whether that was the defendant or the person they were protecting.
• Federal Justifiable Homicide Law
  • There is no specific provision or definition written into federal law regarding justifiable homicide. This means that such cases, when tried in the federal courts, are tried according to the statutes of the state where the homicide was committed. The case may also be tried at the state level.
• What Must a Criminal Defense Attorney Show for Justifiable Homicide
  • The 5th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution protects anyone accused of a crime. Most notably, it states that a person is innocent until proven guilty. This means that in the courtroom, a criminal defense attorney must show that the person who committed the homicide was justified in doing so, and the prosecution has the burden of proof to show that the defendant is guilty of a crime beyond a reasonable doubt.

Understanding Justifiable Homicide (From: Erika Valcarcel, Criminal Defense Lawyer, PA—Justifiable Homicide)

• Unlike murder and other criminal acts, justifiable homicide is the killing of another human being that does not entail blame or criminal intent. If you are attacked by another person, for example, you are legally allowed to use deadly force if it is absolutely necessary. Other situations that might result in a justifiable homicide include the defense of others, trying to prevent someone else from committing a very serious crime, and killing an assailant in the line of duty.
• Many justifiable homicides are committed by police officers and soldiers. A soldier killing an adversary on the field of battle is labeled as a justifiable homicide, as is a police officer killing a felon in order to prevent them from doing harm. Many forms of capital punishment also qualify. For instance, shooting a dangerous prisoner in order to prevent them from escaping is considered justifiable.

Resources & additional reading

• Wikipedia--Justifiable homicide
• The Law Office of Stein & Markus—When Homicide is considered excusable or justified
• Law.com—Legal Dictionary
• The Litvak Law Firm—Justifiable Homicide
• US Dept of Justice--Implications of Justifiable Homicide Verdicts for Battered Women
• Louisiana State Legislature—Justifiable homicide RS 14:20 (Lists when applicable)
• Erika Valcarcel, Criminal Defense Lawyer, PA—Justifiable Homicide
• LegalMatch--Justifiable Homicide Laws
• MyLawQuestions--What is Justifiable Homicide? By Alexis W. Last modified 11/30/2023
• UIA The Encyclopedia of World Problems & Human Potential—Justifiable homicide (Dominican Republic Criminal Code, Article 336)
• Treatment Advocacy Center--Don’t Blame the Police (info + image)
• Los Angeles Criminal Defenders (info + image)
• Stock royalty-free photos and images of Justifiable (image)