Michigan Model Criminal Jury Instructions
CHAPTER 7 Defenses
M Crim JI 7.16 Conditions for Using Force or Deadly Force
[ Select from the following depending on the evidence and circumstances:]
(1) A person can use [force / deadly force] in self-defense only where it is necessary to do so. If the defendant could have safely retreated but did not do so, you may consider that fact in deciding whether the defendant honestly and reasonably believed [he / she] needed to use [force / deadly force] in self-defense. [ or]
(1) A defendant who [assaults someone else with fists or a weapon that is not deadly / insults someone with words / trespasses on someone else’s property / tries to take someone else’s property in a nonviolent way] does not lose all right to self-defense. If someone else assaults [him / her] with deadly force, the defendant may act in self-defense but only if [he / she] retreated where it would have been safe to do so.<1>
(2) However,<1> a person is never required to retreat under some circumstances. [He / She] does not need to retreat if [attacked in (his / her) own home / (he / she) reasonably believes that an attacker is about to use a deadly weapon / (he / she) is subjected to a sudden, fierce, and violent attack]. 2Link to the text of the note
(3) Further, a person is not required to retreat if he or she
(a) has not or is not engaged in the commission of a crime at the time the [force / deadly force] is used,
(b) has a legal right to be where he or she is at that time, and [ Select from the following according to whether the defendant used deadly force or nondeadly force:]
(c) has an honest and reasonable belief that the use of deadly force is necessary to prevent imminent [death / great bodily harm / sexual assault] of [himself / herself] or another person.
[ or]
(c) has an honest and reasonable belief that the use of force is necessary to prevent the imminent unlawful use of force of against [himself / herself] or another person.
Use Note
Use this instruction when requested where some evidence of self-defense has been introduced or elicited. Where there is evidence that, at the time that the defendant used force or deadly force, he or she was engaged in the commission of some other crime, the Committee on Model Criminal Jury Instructions believes that circumstances of the case may provide the court with a basis to instruct the jury that the defendant does not lose the right to self-defense if the commission of that other offense was not likely to lead to the other person’s assaultive behavior. See People v Townes, 391 Mich 578, 593; 218 NW2d 136 (1974). The committee expresses no opinion regarding the availability of self-defense where the other offense may lead to assaultive behavior by another.
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