S

el
f-
Def
ens
e

Eve
rhadoneofth o
seni
ght
swh er
ey o
u’r
ewalki
ngdownt h
estre
etandevery
thi
ngisqui
et.Thi
nki
ngthatev
eryth
ingisjus
t
fi
ne,y
oug e
ta tt
acke
dbyarandomstran
gerwholo
ungesatyouwithbr
utalst
ri
kesandpunch
es.S
hock
edandnotknowing
whattodo,
theeasythi
ngtodoistojus
ttaketh
ehitsoveran
doveragai
n.Byth
en,youhavegi
vensat
isf
act
io
nt oyour
att
ack
erbysuccumbi
ngtothevi
olen
tcir
cumsta
nce
sgivenandsur
el
ye no
ugh;yo
uhavebeennotonl
yrob
bedofwhateverfe
w
val
uab
lesyouposs
ess
edattheti
me ,b
utal
soyou’
resens
eofs e
cur
it
y .
Sel
f-def
ens
eisthecount
ermeas
uretha
tinc
ludesthe
pro
tec
tio
none’spro
per
tyandtheprev
enti
onofhar
m. I
tisthever
ye s
sen
ceoftheact
ionspor
tra
yedbypre
vent
ingbeen
har
medinanywa ybyei
the
r/ordimin
uti
veorcat
acl
ysmicpro
port
io
n s
.Se
lf-d
efen
sedoesnotmeantofi
ght,b
utratherth
euse
ofi
ntell
ig
encetodoit
ssol
ep u
rpose
:tode
fend.

I
nhi
sto
ry,
marti
alar
tshavemarke
danev
olu
ti
onandada
ptat
io
nofanind
ivi
du
al’
sat
temp
tstop
rot
ectbot
hthei
rhon
orand
f
amil
y.I
ntod
ay’
ssoc
iet
y,weliv
einawor
ldwher
edang
erisfo
undi
ne v
eryc
orn
er.S
in
ceth
eint
rod
uct
ionoffi
re
arms,
comba
t
k
niv
esan
deve
nT as
erst
hatcanca
usep
ara
lys
is
,ev
olut
io
nhasyetag
ainpl
aye
darol
einth
earto
fprote
cti
on.

Forinstanc
e,wheny ouarebee npointedt oyou rfa c
ewi thag un,thesmartt hi
ngt odoiston otprovokey o
urattacke
rb u
tto
complysolonga sy ou
rwe l
l-beingisn otthreaten .I
fh is/heract
ionsandunwiseandc ho
oset otryan dd i
sar
mt heattack
er,t
he
endresultcou
ldb ecatas
trophic
. Witht hecontrolo ft h
eiru rg
etos cr
eam,fightorf li
ght,thev i
cti
mh asah i
ghercha
n c
eof
surv
ivingtheattackt h
erefo
r eincreasingtheirs afer e
tu r
nh ome.Astimesh avechangedhowe v
er,certaineve
ntsandb e
havi
or
s
havesli
gh t
lyalteredandthisdo e
sn’tme ani ta l
lh as.Inancie
ntt i
me s
,ifonewa sp h
y s
ica
llyt h
reatenedt h
eimme dia
testep
wouldbet oco
u n
t ertheatta
ck .Today, i
fo neisi nac ri
sissuchast hi
s,t
oleranc
ewo n’texactl
ys er
v emu chhel
pt ofreethe
pers
onf roma nattack.Thenex tstepwo uldb eth eoldschoolway: on
lyuset hes
et ec
hniqueswhena bsolute
lynec
e s
sary.A
s
TeenHealt
hs a
y s
,th erea
lme aningo fs el
f-defen s
ei sthea bil
i
tyt oout
sma rttheat t
ackeranda voi
dc onfro
ntat
ion.Whil
ethe
vi
ctimh asabsol
utelynoideat hatth eattackert ooisme relyscared
,youalsodon otknowi fthea t
t ac
k e
rh a
stakenanydrugs
tonumbo utthep ain.Therealk eyins el
f-defensei stou setheattac
ker’
so wns t
rengtht odefeath i
m( Dowshe
n).“Peop
lewho
arethreatenandf i
g h
tback“ i
ns elf-defense’actuall
yr iskma ki
ngas i
tuati
o nworse(Dowshen).
”T heb estwaytoprevent
i
njuriesistoattemp ttolea
v et hescenea tonce. Easi
ers ai
dt h
and on
e;thatist h
er ol
eo fself-d
efen s
e .
Alt
houg
hma n
yp eo
pl
e
bel
ievethatself-defe
nseisalla boutk i
ckinga ndp unchi
ngu nti
lthea t
tack
eri sont h
eg roundbeginf ormercy,
itisabout
di
sci
plineandpeace. “
Thep r
acticeofma rti
ala rtsemb edsac ert
ainformo fb o
dyh ab
itus,adispos
itionofmi n
d/bodyuni
ty
(
Brown&J ohnson).Aneces
saryu nityb et
we ent heb odyandmi ndhastobee stabl
i
sh e
df i
rstt obeablet ole
arnhowt oprop
erl
y
defen
do neself.Throughthi
sb ond,on ecanlea rntor ema i
nc al
md uri
ngad iffic
ultsitu
a t
ion,dominatet he
iri
nstin
ctsand
adequ
atelyp r
otectv a
luabl
es
, otherso rideal
swi th o
u tthen ee
do fvio
lenc
e.J ustaswe l
l,onecand efendthei
rwe l
l-be
ing
withoutthefearo flac
kingth eproperme ch
a nic
st of endoffanyi nc
ominga tt
acks.

S
el
f-de
fens
ehasseenawideuseinourmodernWeste
rncul
ture
,sp
eci
fi
cal
lyinthe21s
tcentur
y.Wit
hthefas
tpaceof
g
rowi
ngcri
me,ithasbe
comeaj us
tif
iedfie
ldofst
udyandprac
ti
ce.“
Awo manwhofig
htsbac
kgainan86%cha
nceofav
oi
din
g
r
apean
dinc
u r
sli
ttl
echanc
eo faddi
ti
onali
njury
.Mostinj
urie
socc
urbef
orethewomanstar
tsfi
ghti
ngbac
k(Kl
ec
k&S ayl
es
).
”
E
venth
oughanyon
ecanthrowpunch
esintheair
,theabi
li
tytoco
ntro
landti
met he
sewellmake
sarelev
antdi
ff
erenc
e.T
he
i
nd
ulge
nceofcr
imeisrep
u l
si
veb u
tifoneispre
pared
,hehasle
sstofe
ar.“S
tudent
sage12thro
ugh18werevi
cti
msofabou
t
1
86,0
00seri
ousvi
olen
tcrimesinsc
hool
, a
ndabou
t4 7
6,000awayfro
ms c
hoo
l[si
nce1999](
Kle
ck&S ay
les
).

I
nd
ivi
du
alsi
nthe
iryo
uthar
eoft
enpr
eyst
ovi
ol
enc
eanddel
i
nque
nts
.The
senumb
ersa
reag
it
ati
ngandt
husp
rod
uci
ng
r
epe
rc
uss
ion
sbytheg
ener
alpo
pul
at
io
n:wa
yso
fprev
enti
ngthe
setr
oub
le
somesi
tu
ati
on
s.S
elf
-de
fen
sec
anbemast
ere
d.I
tno
t
o
nlya
id
sinc
ont
rol
li
ngo
ne’
surg
esa
ndi
re
,bu
tal
sor
ema
in
ingc
al
man
dco
ll
ec
te
dina“
sti
ck
y”s
it
uat
io
n.S
el
f-
def
ens
eisv
it
al
i
navo
id
in
ghar
mb yast
ran
ger
.

Wo
rkS
it
ed

B
rown,Da
vi
dandAl
anJo
hns
on.
“ T
heSoc
ia
lPra
cti
ce
sofSe
lf–De
fen
seMar
ti
alA
rts
:App
li
ca
ti
on
sfo
rPh
ysi
ca
lEd
uca
ti
on
.”
N
atio
nalAs
so
ci
ati
onfo
rPhy
si
calEd
uca
ti
oninHi
ghe
rEdu
cat
io
n52(200
0):
246-
259.
Pri
nt.

“
Con
cre
teJ
ung
leS
el
f-
Def
ens
e–S
tat
is
ti
cs
.”C
onc
re
teJ
ung
leS
el
f-
Def
ens
e.N
.p.
,
n.
d.We
b.1Ma
y20
12.
.

Do
wn s
hen,Steven.“Self-Defe ns
e. “K i
d s
H ealth–t heWe b’
smo stv isi
t e
ds i
tea roundchildren’
sh ealt
h .N .
p.,n.
d. We b.
1Ma y
2012.
Therea reseveralt ypesofa ffirma tived efensesthatcanb eu sedbyt hed efendant.Oneo ft h
ed ef
e ns
est hatcanb eu sed
i
sthatofs el
f-defense.S el
f-d e
fen seisaj ustifi
catio
nd efense,wh i
chme ansthatt hedefen dantdoesa dmitt heywe re
re
spon
siblefortheira ctsbutt heyc lai
mwh att heydidwa sright, underthec i
rcums tanc
e s
. I
nt heca s
e swh eret h
isdef enseis
us
edeveni ftheg overnme ntp r
ov esa l
lo ft hee l
eme ntso fthecrimeb eyondar easonab
led oubt,thed efendants ti
llget sto
wal
kb ec
au s
et heyaren otb lamewo rthy .Asp ert heci
r c
ums tancesbeings tudi
ed, t
hes hooti
n goft heh usbandbyt h ewife ,t
h e
de
fensewi l
lbet ry
ingt ou ses el
f-de fensea st hedefenseint here asoni
ngo ft hepleaofn otg uilty
. Therea ref oureleme nts
th
atself-def
en s
eisma deu po f:1. I
th ast ob ea nu n
provokeda ttack,2.N ec
e s
sity,3.Proportionali
ty, and4. Reasonabl
eb elie
f.
I
nthec a
sef orbotht hed efensean dp rosecuti
o nalloft heseeleme ntswillb elookedinto.AlsoI willlooka tan dconsi
de rasto
wheth
eritc o
u l
dh aveb eenco ns
ideredap reemp tivestrikeorr etal
iationasn eithe
ro fth osecanh appenifs elf-defenseist obe
us
edast hejusti
f i
cation.
Sincet hi
sc asei shap peninginK ansa
st hep rosec
utionwi l
lh aveth eburdeno fp roofnoma tterwh at.
Thi
scome sfrom5 1.05 0D efense–B urdeno fP roofwh ichstates:“T hedefen d
antr ai
sess elf-defen
sea sad efe nse…….T he
st
ate’
sbur d
eno fproofd oesn otsh i
ftt ot hed efendant.”T he
rea ret wowa yst hatthep rosecutioncouldg oatp rosec
u ti
n gthe
de
fendant.Thefirstisg oinga ttheg uto fth edef e
ndanta ndget ti
ngt hecrimed eclaredtob emu r
d erint hefirstdegr ee.For
th
istobed ec
laredth ecrimet h
ep rosecu ti
onwi l
lh av
et op ro
vet hatt hedef endan
ti ntenti
on al
lyk i
lledh erhu s
b a
n d,
th ek i
lli
ng
wasdonewi t
hp reme di
tationa ndt hatt hea ctoccurredont hedayi td i
d.T heseclai
mst h atha vetob ep r
ovedc omef romP IK
54.
110Mu rd
erint hef irstde g
ree. Thep rosecu t
ioncana skthatt hej urycon s
iderthisbef oreself-
d efensewh ichcameh el
p
th
em. I
ft heself-defenseisc ons
ider edf i
rsti tma yma k ethewo ma nl oo
kl iketheg oodg uya ndma kei th a
rde rforth e
pr
osec
utiontoma k
et heirc ase.Thef irstc l
aimt heyhavet oprovei sthats heintendedtok illherh usband.T heonet hingt ha
t
he
lpsthep ro
secuti
ont hemo stint hisa reaist hats h
ewa ssi
ttingwa i
tingwi ththeg unint heirs h
are dhouset hatsheh ad
ch
angedthelocksto. Hec ouldn’
tj ustwa l
ki na nda vo
idc onfr
ontationifh ewa n t
edt o.Hema yn othav eevenb eeng oi
ngt o
ha
rmh erb ec
auseh eh adha dac ooli
n go ffp eri
od, whi
chme ansthath ern otg i
vingh i
mac han c
et ocomei ns afelys e
emst o
po
intrightatintentt ok i
llh i
m. T hes econdclaimt hath astob ep r
o vedisthatt hekill
ingwa sdonewi thp reme dita
tion.T o
pr
ovethisthee vi
dencet hatt hepr osecutioncanu seisv erysimilart othato fintent.Shel ockeda l
lth edoorsa nds a
twa i
ting
wit
hag un .I
fs h
ed idn’
ti ntendo rth i
n ka boutd oi
ngs ome th
ingwi tht hatgu nthens hewo uldn’thaveh adito ut.A tthev ery
l
eastIthinkwes hec ouldsays het houg hta boutse r
iousl
yh armin gh i
mwi ththeg unifn otmu rder
ingh im. Ift heprosecutio
n
fe
elsthattheyc annotg etth emu rderi nt hef ir
std egreeconvic
tiont hereisa not
herwa yth eycouldg oaboutg ettingt he
de
fendantconvic
ted.I
twi llb eofal e ssorcrimeb ut,d
efe ndan
two uldstil
ld osomet ime .Ast hep ro
secutiont r
iest oprove
be
yondar eas
o na
bled oubtt hatthee viden c
es howss elf-defen
sewa sn o
tn ecessary
,theyc ouldt ryandg ett hein s
tructi
o nof
vo
lunt
a r
yma nsl
augh te
r .Voluntaryma nslaug hterisani nten
tionalk il
lin
gu p o
na nu nreasonablebeli
eft hats elf-
d ef
ensei s
ne
cess
ary. Th
eu seo fthist of i
ghtt hes elf-defensebe i
ngu sedbyt h edefendantcamea boutinS tatev .Holme san dalsoin
S
tat
ev.Gon
zal
ez.I
fthisisdoner
igh
tbyt h
epro
secut
io
nitcanca
usetheco
urttorefus
eaself
-de
fensei
n s
truc
ti
oniftheydo
n
otsup
por
tafin
din
gt hatareaso
nab
lepers
onwoul
dhavepe
rcei
vedthene
edfortheuseoffo
rcei
ns el
f-
d e
fens
e.Thiswoul
d
n
otbeth
eide
alsi
tua
tio
nf orthepro
sec
uti
onbut
, i
twoul
dbebett
erforthe
mt hanthedef
ens
ewinni
ngo ntheuseofsel
f-
d
efe
nse
.Id
eal
lythe
ywo uldbeabl
etoco
nvin
cethejur
yofthemurderint
hefir
stdegreebu
t,th
ep r
osec
uti
onneedstokeep
t
hei
ropt
io
nsope
n.Be
f o
reg o
ingont
othecas
eforthedef
ens
eI wi
llbri
efl
ytal
ka bo
uttheel
ementsofsel
f-d
e f
ensedis
cus
sed
i
nthei
ntr
odu
cti
onandhowt hepr
ose
cut
ionca
nfightth
em.

Thef i
rsteleme n tha stob et h
a tth eattacky oua red efendi
ngy ourselfo fh ast ob eu npro
voke d.Ithinkb yt hed efendant
ch
an gin
gt hel ockso nt hedoorsa ndn otlettingh erh usbandgeti nsi
deh isho me ,wh ichisa l
lh etr i
edt od owh e
ns hesh othim,
th
a tonec ouldclaimt hatshewa sp ro
vokingh im. Nex tthes el
f-defenseh ast ob eo fn eces
sity.T hereisn op rooft ha
th ewa s
co
mi ngaf terh ersot hes hooti
n go fh i
mwa sn otpr ovedtob en ec
essary. Nexti sp roporti
onality.Th i
sme anst hef or
ceu sedto
de
f endcan’tb ean yg reaterthanwh atisb ei
ngu seda g ai
nsty ou.Tof ightt hist hep rosec
utionco ul
ds ayt ha thewa sc omingin
awi ndo
wo fth eh ouseh elivedin. Shedidn’tevenwa ittos eeifh ewa sg oi
n gt oa ttackb ut
,j ustshoth ima ss oo
na sh ecame
i
nt hewi ndow. Itismyb e
liefth atp hys
icalforcea ndag una r
en ott hes amet hi
n g.Ma ybeifh eh adb eenp inningh e
rd owna nd
sh
ewa sdyeingi two u l
db ep ro
p ortional
.Ph ys
icalf orceyouh aveac h a
ncet og eta wa yf romt hou gh,ag uny oud o
n’t.The
pr
ose c
utionb eli
ev e
st hatf orh ert oshooth i
mh en eededt oshows omes igno fg oinga fterher. Thep asta ndwo r
dsh esa i
d
ar
en ’
tg oode nough. Ileftth esceneo ft heargume ntwh ichshowsr etreat,wh ichme ansh ecanno tbeb lame df orwo rdsu s
ed
ea
rlier.Thel aste l
e me ntofs elf-defenseisr e
a s
o nablebelief.Ar easo
nab l
ep er sonh astob e
lievet hatt hisist heo n
lyo ptio
n.I
do
n ’
tt hi
nks hewa sr easonable
. Shewa slo s
ingit. Shel oc
k edallthed oorstot h ei
rh omea nds atwa iti
ng .T hi
st omed oesnot
sh
owr ea
son able.Thel astth i
ngI wantt otalka bouti nrefe r
encet othep rosecu ti
onwa swh ethero rn otth eyc anprovet hat
th
e rewasr eta l
iationo rap re-emp tivestrikeinvolved .
Ife it
hero ft hos
ec anb epr ovedtheni tcann o
tb ec onsideredself-
de
f ense.Ap re-emp ti
v estrikeisas urpri
sea ttackth athap pe
nst op re
ve ntt hee nemyo rothera ttackerf roma ttacki
ngy ou.
Re
t al
iati
oni st hea cti
ono fh armin gs o
me oneb ecauset heyh a
rme dy ou.T hi
sI beli
e veiswh eret hep rosecutiont r
u l
yh asa
ch
an c
et opr oveita bsolutelycouldn oth avebeens elf-defense.Wh y?B ecauses het houg hhewa sg oingt oc omeh omea ndh a
rm
he
r .Shesetu pawa yt oattackh imf i
rst.Tod ot hi
ss helo c
keda llthed oors,fo rc
ingh imt oe ntert hroughawi ndo
wi fh ewas
go
ingt oe nter.H edide ntert hroughawi ndowa nds hes hothim. Tomet hisi sat ex tbookdefinitio
no fap re-emp ti
ves trik
e.
Onecoulda l
sos eer etaliati
onint h erebut,I b
elievei tismo ret hepr e
-emp tives triket hanar etaliati
on .N owI willgoo nto
ta
lka boutt hi
sc asef romt h edefe ndant’
sp oi
nto fv iew.Thed efendanth ase l
e ctedt op l
eadn otg ui
ltyb ya llegeds e
lf-defense
.
I
nK ansasth eb urdeno fp r
oofd oesn otshiftf romt heprosecutiontot hed efense. Thed efensen eedstoa lleg ethatth eju r
y
wasimp roperlyi nstructedth a
tt heb urden-of-proofs hi
fted .I
tisi mportan tt ore me mb e
rt hats hema yh aves hotbutd othey
knowf orsu reth atth eaimwa st ok i
ll.Herinten ti
on scouldhaveb eent ok eeph imf roma dvancingo nh er.Ifh erintentwa s
no
tt ok i
llt hani twa sn’ttrulyp reme di
tationf ormu rd
e r
. Thea i
mwa st ok eepap ersonwh owa senrag edf roma t
tacking.The
pr
ose c
utionh adt het asktop rovea lloft heeleme ntso fmu r
deri ft h
ati swh a tth eywa ntedt og etherc on vic
tedo n.Thatin
tu
rnma det hemh avet oshowt hatt heeleme ntso fse l
f-defensed i
dn oto c
cu r.Fo rh ertoge tof fons elf-def ens
es heh asto
ha
v en o
tp rovoke dhim, believedth en e
cessi
ty ,proportional
lya ppli
edf orce,andh adar easonableb el
iefi nwh atshewa sd oi
ng.
Sh
eb elie
ve sth atbyh olingu pint heirhou s
es hewa sp r
otecti
ngh er
selfwh ichwa sn otp ro
vokingh im. Bef oreh eleftth e
husbandhadc laime dh ewo uldcomeb ackandh armh ers oth a
tt oh eralsog aver easont oh e
rs hoo t
ingh im. S hefeltitwa s
ne
ce s
saryt op rotecth ersel
f. Then exte l
eme ntt hath astoo cc
u rist h
ats heu s edaf o rc
ewi thp roporti
ont oh i
s.Sheb eli
eves
sh
ed id.Herh usba n
db eingama l
ei sp r
obablyal otl argert ha
ns heis.Sh eg ott heg unt oma keh e r
selff eell i
k esheh adaf or
ce
st
ron gtof ighto ffh i
sb ody.T hela s
te l
eme ntt hath ast ooccurist herea s
o nableb eli
eft hatt hedefen seisa llthatca nbe
do
n einthiss ituation.Sheb eli
evedt hatifh eg ott hrought hatwi ndowh ewo uldc omea nda ttackh er.Itisn ott hedefen da
nt’
s
jo
bt hought op rovet his.Fort hemo s
tp artinac a seliketh i
ssh ehast oj usts i
tb ackf orther ide.Sheh a stoh opeth at
so
mehowtheycand i
scred
itallev
idencethepro
sec
uti
ongive
sf o
ritbei
ngmu rde
r.Sheals
oh a
stohopethatthejurywil
l
c
onsi
de
rherself-de
fe ns
einstru
cti
ona ft
ertheappr
oac
hthep r
ose
cuti
onc h
oosestogowi t
h.I
nconc
lus
ionther
ea r
ea rgu
ment
fo
rbot
hsid
es. WhenI fir
stlook
eda tthi
sc a
seItho
ughtpro
secu
tio
na l
lthewa y.Isti
llthi
nkthepros
ecuti
onwouldwininthi
s
si
tu
ati
onbut
, Icanalsoseethatthed e
fenda
ntcoul
dputupaf i
ght.
I t
hinkins i
tua
tionsl
ikethi
sitisnotabou
tt hela
wa f
ter
ace
rta
inpo
int.Wh atI meanbythisisthelawy
ersca
ng e
tu pthe
reandf i
ghtu s
ingallthefan
cylawyertermstheywantto
bu
t,i
ntheendit’salluptot h
ejury. Th
ej u
ry’
sperc
epti
onofthepers
ona ndwh e
thertheythi
nktheywerer i
ghtorwrong
an
dwhathasg on
eo nintheirli
vesisgoingtoi
nflu
enc
einthem.It’
slikeintheJodiAria
scase
.Mo s
tofu safte
rs ee
in
gt h
ose
go
rydet
ail
sthoug h
td eat
hp ena
ltyalltheway,s
hedoesn
’tdese
rvetoli
ve.T heju
rywa shungtho
ugh.Somed i
dn’tbe
li
eveit
.
Sh
ewentontrialagainandstil
ltheyd i
dn’
tbel
ie
veit.I
tgoestosho
wt hath owpeopl
et h
inkwil
ldeter
mi n
et h
eo utc
omeof
th
ecri
me.I
nt hiscasejustli
keinth eAri
ascas
eI t
hi
nkitwillco
med ownt owhatthej u
ryfeel
.Iftheyfeell
ikeshewas
ju
stpro
tec
ti
n gherselforifthefeelemp at
hyforth
ed e
adma nastheresultofthegunshewasholdi
ng.