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Nomenclature?
Posted: Fri Jul 13, 2007 5:21 am
by BrassMonkey
Legal Types,
Help me to understand these please...
Exception = Not Arrestable
Defense to Prosecution = Not Convictable
Posted: Fri Jul 13, 2007 7:09 am
by seamusTX
An exception means that something that is generally illegal is allowed in certain cases, for example, carrying a handgun while traveling.
A defense to prosecution could mean --
1. The cops don't arrest you. This is frequently seen in self-defense cases.
2. The DA doesn't charge you because the case has little merit.
3. The judge throws out the case on a preliminary motion.
4. The jury finds you not guilty.
5. A guilty verdict is reversed upon appeal.
You can always be arrested.
- Jim
Posted: Fri Jul 13, 2007 10:36 am
by txinvestigator
One can still be convicted with a defense to prosecution. YOU have the responsibility to offer your defense at trial, and if reasonable doubt on the defense is found by the jury then they are charged that you must bew acquitted.
Posted: Fri Jul 13, 2007 2:36 pm
by Nazrat
txinvestigator has it right.
In law school, we were taught that you have the burden of pleading a defense, producing evidence of the defense and persuading the court and/or the jury of the validity of the defense. If all those things go well, you win. If one of them is missing or insufficient, you lose.
Defenses are nice to have in the statute. I would prefer to have a bar to prosecution rather than a defense, personally.
