When someone is accused of a crime, they have the legal right to representation and to fight against the evidence brought against them by a prosecutor.
General defences are commonly used by criminal solicitors Glasgow to fight against claims that the person on trail had intent to commit the crime that they are being accused of.
Whilst these defences are used and applied in different ways depending on relevance to the case in question, they are considered by criminal defence lawyers every single time they agree to represent a client.
These defences include:
Intoxication
A huge percentage of crimes, particularly violent crimes, occur when the perpetrator is intoxicated under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Many people don’t realise that this is actually a defence that is used pretty often, although when the intoxication is voluntary the argument that the individual was not in control of their actions is not something that can be used as a defence.
Intoxication as a defence is usually only successful when the person is intoxicated involuntarily. If they have their drink spiked, for example.
If the intoxication was indeed voluntary, the only way that this argument can be used to the defence of someone accused of a crime is to argue that it would not have been possible for them to commit the crime in the state that they were in. A lack of self-control due to voluntary intoxication is NOT a viable defence.
Mistake
If a criminal defence attorney can prove beyond doubt that the actions of their client were a genuine mistake and they had no intent to do the harm they did, they may be able to have the case dismissed or secure a reduced sentence. Intent is an important part of the criminal process and the if the incident can be proven to be a genuine accident the defendant may not face a punishment.
Duress
If a crime was committed by someone who was being threatened by a third party a defence of duress may be mounted.
For duress to be argued successfully, a person must genuinely believe that they were at risk of being harmed if they did not carry out the crime.
Self-defence
One of the most common defences used in assault cases or when any sort of force is used against another individual. Self-defence is the argument that the level of force used by a person was proportional to the threat that they face or that their property faces.
One example of when reasonable force can legally be used includes when an intruder breaks into your property or when you feel in genuine danger of being physically harmed.
Insanity
The insanity defence involves proving beyond doubt that at the time the offence was committed, an individual was suffering with a disease of the mind and was not aware of the impact of the crime they were committing.
Insanity defences are hard to argue successfully and even those wo are acquitted will usually be held on mental health grounds.