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This week examines the principal non-homicide offenses that protect bodily integrity, personal security, and freedom of movement — assault, battery, false imprisonment, and kidnapping — together with the defenses that may justify or excuse conduct that would otherwise constitute an offense against the person. The law here is concerned not only with completed physical harm, but with threatened harm, unlawful restraint, and interference with individual autonomy. The week then turns to justification defenses: self-defense, defense of others, defense of habitation, consent, and necessity, with emphasis on the limits of these defenses — necessity, imminence, proportionality of responsive force, and the competing interests courts balance.
Criminal law protects persons from physical harm, threats, and restraints on liberty through a hierarchy of offenses, each distinguished by the type and severity of harm, the required mental state, and the degree of interference with bodily autonomy.
| Offense | Protected Interest | Distinguishing Element | |---------|-------------------|----------------------| | Battery | Bodily integrity | Completed harmful/offensive contact | | Assault | Freedom from fear | Apprehension of imminent contact OR attempted battery | | False Imprisonment | Freedom of movement | Unlawful confinement within bounded area | | Kidnapping | Liberty + safety | Confinement + asportation/concealment |
Theory 1: Attempted Battery - Specific intent to commit a battery - An act beyond mere preparation toward its commission - Failure to complete the battery - Present ability to complete the battery (majority view)
Theory 2: Intentional Frightening (Apprehension) - An act creating reasonable apprehension - Of imminent harmful or offensive contact - Intent to create that apprehension
The justification defenses share a common structure: conduct that satisfies a crime's elements is nevertheless lawful because the law recognizes that the defendant acted for a socially acceptable reason.
Key distinction: Justification means the act was right (or at least legally permissible). Excuse means the act was wrong but the actor is not punishable.
| Element | Requirement | |---------|------------| | Threat | Unlawful force against the defendant | | Imminence | The threat must be imminent — not past, not future | | Proportionality | Force must be proportional to the threat | | Reasonable belief | Defendant must reasonably believe all conditions are met | | No duty to retreat | Majority rule (stand your ground); minority requires retreat if safely possible before using deadly force |
Deadly Force: Permitted only when the defendant reasonably believes they face an imminent threat of death or serious bodily harm.
Initial Aggressor Rule: The person who starts the confrontation generally cannot claim self-defense unless: 1. They withdraw and communicate withdrawal, OR 2. The victim escalates to deadly force in response to non-deadly aggression
The modern rule: A defendant may use force to defend a third person when the defendant reasonably believes the third person would be justified in using self-defense.
Historical (alter ego) rule (minority): The defendant "stands in the shoes" of the person defended — if that person was actually the aggressor, the defense fails regardless of appearances.
The right to use force (including deadly force in some jurisdictions) to prevent unlawful entry into one's dwelling. The modern trend limits deadly force to situations where the occupant reasonably believes the intruder intends to commit a felony or poses a threat of serious bodily harm.
Elements: 1. The defendant faced a clear and imminent danger 2. There was a direct causal relationship between the criminal action and avoiding the harm 3. There was no legal alternative 4. The harm avoided outweighs the harm caused 5. The defendant did not create the emergency
Limitations: - Never available as a defense to intentional homicide - Economic necessity does not justify theft (majority view) - The defendant cannot have been at fault in creating the emergency
Valid consent eliminates the unlawfulness of what would otherwise be an offense against the person — but only when: - The victim has capacity to consent - Consent is voluntarily given (not through fraud, duress, or incapacity) - Consent covers the specific conduct and harm - The harm is not against public policy (consent to mutual combat or serious bodily injury is generally not a valid defense)
When analyzing crimes against the person on an exam: 1. Identify the specific offense — match facts to elements 2. Check completed vs. attempted — did the harm occur? 3. Assess mental state — what did D intend? 4. Evaluate defenses — was there justification? 5. Check proportionality — was the response reasonable? 6. Consider aggravating factors — does this elevate the charge?
The California FYLSX tests Criminal Law through both essay and multiple-choice questions. Crimes against the person appear frequently: - Battery and assault are common building blocks in multi-issue hypos - Self-defense is the most frequently tested justification defense - Kidnapping/false imprisonment distinctions test attention to doctrinal precision - The initial aggressor rule and duty to retreat are classic exam traps
The statutes SofAI ties to this topic. Use them as your IRAC rule block, then verify the current text on the official leginfo link.
In every crime there must be a union, or joint operation, of act and intent (or criminal negligence).
Exam hook: Open a Criminal Law essay by confirming concurrence of act and intent under §20 before analyzing specific crimes.
Crimes against the person are foundational to Criminal Law on the Baby Bar. Self-defense is the most commonly tested justification defense. The distinction between assault and battery, and between false imprisonment and kidnapping, appear regularly in both essay and MBE-style questions.