Maryland Criminal Jury Instructions and Commentary, Third Edition
Chapter 8 DEFENSES
D. Defense of Others

§ 8.05. Defense of Others

A person has a right to go to the defense of another person. You have heard evidence that the defendant witnessed an assault on another person.

In order to justify (insert specific crime(s) charged) on the basis of defense of others, (insert name of defendant) must have:

(1) actually believed that (insert name of person defended) was in imminent or immediate danger of [bodily harm] [serious bodily harm or death] from [his] [her] assailant or potential assailant;
(2) had reasonable grounds for that belief;
(3) not used any more force than was reasonably necessary to defend (insert name of person defended) from the threatened or actual harm; and,
(4) [killed] [assaulted] (insert name of victim) in an attempt to aid (insert name of person defended) and not merely to punish (insert name of victim) or to avenge (insert name of person defended).
You must determine whether the circumstances at the time of incident as they appeared to the defendant justified [his] [her] use of force to aid (insert name of person defended). In some circumstances, the defendant may believe [he] [she] has a right to aid (insert name of person defended) based on a mistaken understanding of the factual circumstances surrounding the assault. If you find that the defendant actually and reasonably believed, based on [his] [her] understanding of the circumstances at the time of the incident, that [he] [she] had a right to defend (insert name of person defended), then [he] [she] may still claim the defense of others, despite the fact [he] [she] may not have had a right to aid (insert name of person defended) if [he] [she] had been aware of all the factual circumstances surrounding the assault.

In order for you to find (insert name of defendant) guilty, the State must convince you beyond a reasonable doubt that the defense of others does not apply in this case. If the State has proved to you beyond a reasonable doubt that at least one of the four factors was not present in this case, then you should reject the defense of others. On the other hand, you must find (insert name of defendant) not guilty if the State has not proven to you beyond a reasonable doubt that at least one of the four factors that make up the defense of others was not present in this case.

 

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