SOCL 3371 Study Guide - Justifiable Homicide
Document Summary
We subscribe to the requirement that the defendant"s actions must be a sufficiently direct cause of the ensuing death before there can be any imposition of criminal liability. Applying these criteria to the defendant"s actions, we conclude that their activities were a sufficiently direct cause of the death of george stafford. Defense of defense (self, others, property) r. s. 14:20 justifiable homicide (doesn"t include protection of property) r. s. 14:19 use of force or violence in defense. Force or threat of violence must be immediate/imminent. Force used to prevent attack or crime had to be proportionate and necessary to stop it. Townsend v. commonwealth of kentucky (1971) while hunting men were loading up their dogs and at some point a weapon was fired in their direction but no one was injured. Everyone left including townsend who didn"t unload his gun, while passing a house which he believes was may have been the people who fired at them.
