Name three common criminal defenses.

• A. Alibi, entrapment, and intoxication.
• B. Lying to police, bribery, and murder.
• C. Self-defense, insanity, and duress.
• D. None of the above.

Answer: (C)

Common criminal defenses give a defendant a legal reason why they shouldn’t be held fully responsible for a crime. Three well-known defenses are self-defense, insanity, and duress.

Self-defense argues that the defendant used force to protect themselves from an imminent threat and that the force used was necessary and proportionate. Insanity claims the defendant wasn’t capable of understanding the wrongfulness of their conduct or couldn’t conform their actions to the law due to a mental condition. Duress involves being forced to commit a crime because of a threat of imminent harm to themselves or others, which overrides the will to refuse the unlawful act.

The other options mix actions that aren’t defenses with offenses or defenses, so they don’t form a standard trio of defenses: alibi, entrapment, and intoxication are defenses in some cases, but aren’t as universally recognized as a trio; and lying to police, bribery, and murder are not defenses at all.