My question involves criminal law for the state of: MI
A friend of mine was involved kidnapping/battery case that involved an out of control suicidal girlfriend trying to cut herself with knives. After she initially successfully slashed her wrist, he feared for her life as well as his own and attempted to disarm and restrain her several times. At one point she attempted to leave the apartment with a knife in her hand, and he pulled her back into apartment out of fear that she would run away and hurt/kill herself, or hurt someone else in the apartment complex. The police were called by neighbors, and he was encountered restraining the girl by the wrists on the sofa, with a bloodied knife he had just confiscated from her shoved out of reach beneath the sofa. Witnesses saw the girl get pulled back into the apartment, but did not see the knife she had in her hand. Witnesses also heard the girl threaten to kill herself during the argument. The girl was sent to the psychiatric ER for the slashed wrist, the male was sent to jail.
My question is, is it an affirmative defense to a kidnapping/battery charge to restrain and disarm an unwilling individual who is armed and poses a threat to either themselves or others? Is it a better defense for him to say he feared for his OWN life, OTHERS lives, or that he feared for HER life if she was the person who was armed and communicating suicidal threats. Would an affirmative defense win a not-guilty verdict alone, or would it require a conviction with a mitigated sentence?
The most bizarre part about this case is that the girl was the one who was armed and acting disorderly, and even menacingly I'd say. But the boyfriend was the one who was charged... for restraining a person with a weapon. Doesn't seem right.
A friend of mine was involved kidnapping/battery case that involved an out of control suicidal girlfriend trying to cut herself with knives. After she initially successfully slashed her wrist, he feared for her life as well as his own and attempted to disarm and restrain her several times. At one point she attempted to leave the apartment with a knife in her hand, and he pulled her back into apartment out of fear that she would run away and hurt/kill herself, or hurt someone else in the apartment complex. The police were called by neighbors, and he was encountered restraining the girl by the wrists on the sofa, with a bloodied knife he had just confiscated from her shoved out of reach beneath the sofa. Witnesses saw the girl get pulled back into the apartment, but did not see the knife she had in her hand. Witnesses also heard the girl threaten to kill herself during the argument. The girl was sent to the psychiatric ER for the slashed wrist, the male was sent to jail.
My question is, is it an affirmative defense to a kidnapping/battery charge to restrain and disarm an unwilling individual who is armed and poses a threat to either themselves or others? Is it a better defense for him to say he feared for his OWN life, OTHERS lives, or that he feared for HER life if she was the person who was armed and communicating suicidal threats. Would an affirmative defense win a not-guilty verdict alone, or would it require a conviction with a mitigated sentence?
The most bizarre part about this case is that the girl was the one who was armed and acting disorderly, and even menacingly I'd say. But the boyfriend was the one who was charged... for restraining a person with a weapon. Doesn't seem right.
Assault & Battery: Claiming That Somebody Was Suicidal as a Defense to Battery or Unlawful Restraint
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