406: Listen and Learn -- Defenses to a Crime

Welcome back to the Law School Toolbox podcast! Today, we're looking at a few specific defenses in Criminal Law, which - if used successfully - may exonerate a defendant or reduce their punishment.

In this episode we discuss:

• Factual and affirmative defenses
• Perfect and imperfect affirmative defenses
• The defense of duress
• Defenses having to do with the defendant's mental state
• Self-defense and defense of others
• Analyzing two essay questions from previous California bar exams

Resources:

• “Listen and Learn” series (https://lawschooltoolbox.com/law-school-toolbox-podcast-substantive-law-topics/#listen-learn)
• California Bar Examination – Essay Questions and Selected Answers, February 2007 (https://juraxbar.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/February-2007-CBX.pdf)
• California Bar Examination – Essay Questions and Selected Answers, October 2020 (https://www.calbar.ca.gov/Portals/0/documents/admissions/Examinations/October-2020-Essay-Selected-Answers.pdf)
• Podcast Episode 357: Listen and Learn – Prosecution of a Criminal Trial (Burdens, Presumptions, Sufficiency) (https://lawschooltoolbox.com/podcast-episode-357-listen-and-learn-prosecution-of-a-criminal-trial-burdens-presumptions-sufficiency/)

Download the Transcript  (https://lawschooltoolbox.com/episode-406-listen-and-learn-defenses-to-a-crime/)

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Thanks for listening!

Alison & Lee