Self-Defense - If a person is attacked, that person does have the right to defend him/herself. However, the law does place some limitations on what a person can do to protect him/herself.
- The person defending him/herself cannot be at fault, meaning that the person cannot have started the fight;
- the person must reasonably believe that he/she is in immediate danger of serious bodily injury or death; and
- there must be no other way to avoid the danger.
Also, when defending one's self, the person must not apply any more force than is needed to stop the attack. So, if a person uses excessive force in repelling an attack, that person would be guilty of assault and battery just as if he/she was the person that started the attack.
Defense of Others - Similar to Self-Defense, if a person is in immediate danger of serious bodily injury or death and another person fights off the attacker, the rescuer would not be guilty of assault and battery because he/she was acting to defend the victim. The same rules that apply to Self-Defense apply to Defense of Others. So, as long as the victim was not at fault, reasonably believed that he/she was in immediate danger of serious bodily injury or death, and there was no other way to avoid the danger, the rescuer will not get in trouble for assault and battery. Again, just like with Self-Defense, if the rescuer uses more force than necessary to stop the attacker, he/she may be guilty of assault and battery.