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Speak Up! - View Question #572 |
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Question: What is the difference between assault and self-defense?
Answer: Both assault and self defense relate to injuring another person. Assault deals with the act itself, and self defense deals with making an excuse for the act.
Arizona laws define assault as: causing any physical injury to another person [either intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly]; intentionally placing another person in understandable fear of receiving a physical injury; or knowingly touching another person with the intent to injure, insult or provoke such person. If you commit any of these, you have committed assault [A.R.S. § 13-1203]
If you committed the act of assault, you may not be found guilty if you have a legal excuse for committing the act. This is where self-defense comes into play. Arizona laws say that 'a person is justified in threatening or using physical force against another when and to the extent a reasonable person would believe that physical force is immediately necessary to protect himself against the other's use or attempted use of unlawful physical force.' Basically, that means if another person is about to assault you, you may defend yourself from that attack. Your defensive act, although an assault itself, may be excused in these situations.
Keep in mind that the excuse of self defense does not apply in response to verbal [spoken] words alone, while resisting arrest from the police [regardless of the legality of the arrest], or if you did something to make that person assault you [unless you take back whatever it is you said/did to make that other person assault you AND that other person still tries to use unlawful physical force against you].
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| 11 thru 14 of 14 comments |
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On 05/22/03
moss from NJ said:
i got stabbed in the cheek by a person over 18 and i was wondering if he could get in trouble, couold he?
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On 04/05/03
sean from Othe said:
I was wondering if something I did was wrong.
You see, I was having a nice day at school until a kid in my class came up to me and tripped me backwards.
I did nothing to provoke , absolutely nothing.
So I got up, tripped him and started kicking him.
he wasn't hurt but continued to swear at me and hit me during class.
Then I told him to stop and I got kicked out of class for talking.
That's when I got in trouble.
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On 03/21/03
Ally from DC said:
Wow, i think that, that person was trying to get on ur bad side and obviously they did. maybe if u didn't punch them that first time they wouldn't have done anything to u, but hey, u were only doing what u had to. i think it was self-defense when u scratched them w/ the key. they wouldn't let up and thats not cool. i don't believe they assulted u, maybe upseted u, but not assulted.
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On 04/16/02
WOW from AZ said:
Yes i have a question about that lets say a persone was saying somthing about you to get you in trubol when you did not do it and then you ask them to stop and they dont affter you kep asking that your mined reactes to it and you punch the person not hard to the point it hurts then or bruses them and and you stope after that punch and then they come a few sec later affter you left them alone and they begane to phisicaly hurt you and you ask them to get off and tell them that they are hurthing you and fight back buy trying to get away from you. but then they dont. And lets say you take the car
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| 11 thru 14 of 14 comments |
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