Tennessee Pattern Jury Instructions – Criminal
CHAPTER 40 DEFENSES

§ 40.07 DEFENSE: DEFENSE OF THIRD PERSON

Included in the defendant’s plea of not guilty is [his] [her] plea of defense of a third person.

A person is justified in threatening or using force against another to protect a third person if:

(1) under the circumstances as the person reasonably believes them to be, the person would be justified, under the principles which apply to self-defense, in threatening or using force to protect against the use or attempted use of unlawful force reasonably believed to be threatening the third person sought to be protected; and

(2) the person reasonably believes that the intervention is immediately necessary to protect the third person.

[The trial judge should now instruct the jury concerning the principles of self-defense, T.P.I. — CRIM. 40.06(a) or 40.06(b), Defense: Self-Defense.]

The burden is on the state to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant did not act in defense of a third person.

[This defense is not available to the defendant if the victim was an innocent third person who was recklessly injured or recklessly killed by the defendant’s use of force. “Recklessly” has been previously defined in these instructions.]

If from all the facts and circumstances you find the defendant acted in defense of a third person, or if you have a reasonable doubt as to whether the defendant acted in defense of a third person, you must find [him] [her] not guilty.

 

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