The Defense of Duress :: Tennessee Criminal Lawyer Blog

Every criminal case is different, and there are situations where it is simply best for a criminal defendant to say "OK, I did it," rather than trying to fight the case out in court. Admitting responsibility for a particular occurrence does not, however, mean that an individual is admitting that he or she is guilty of a crime. There are defenses, called affirmative defenses, that an individual can raise in court that negate that individual's guilt from a legal standpoint while still allowing them to admit that they may have taken action that would otherwise render them guilty of criminal conduct. The most well known of the affirmative defenses is probably self-defense, which is an affirmative defense often raised in homicide trials. The affirmative defense of duress is lesser known, but can still be an effective tool in criminal trials where the evidence is seemingly unfavorable to the defendant.

Plainly put, the defense of duress can be used where a defendant claims that he or she only took on a role in the criminal episode for which he or she is charged because of the influence of another person, with the influence almost always taking the form of a threat to the defendant or the defendant's immediate family. Under Tennessee law, the threat must either be a continuous threat or be immediate, impending, and present at the time of the alleged act in order to serve as an immediate crime. According to a recent Court of Criminal Appeals ruling, the "defense of duress is unavailable to person who intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly becomes involved in situation in which it was probable that person would be subjected to compulsion or that defendant conspired with another person to commit crime." This is so because duress should only be raised as a defense when a person was forced by the duress to commit a crime for which they should otherwise bear no responsibility and would not have committed otherwise.

The defense of duress can be used to defeat criminal charges given the right circumstances. if you have been charged with a crime and would like to explore your defenses, contact an experienced East Tennessee Criminal Defense Attorney to discuss your case.

State v. Todd, 36 TAM 10-20, 1/12/11, Jackson, McMullen, 38 pages.