MBE Rules · Criminal Law
Defense of others
The rule
A person may use reasonable force, including deadly force where appropriate, to defend a third party from what he reasonably believes to be imminent unlawful force. Majority (reasonable-appearance) rule: the defender is justified so long as his belief is reasonable, even if mistaken. Minority ("stand in the shoes") rule: the defender is justified only if the person defended actually had a right to use self-defense.
In plain English
You can step in for a stranger. The only jurisdictional split is what happens if you misread the situation — most states protect the reasonable rescuer; a few tie your fate to the person you defended.
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