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An affirmative defense to a civil lawsuit or criminal charge is a fact or set of facts other than those alleged by the plaintiff or prosecutor which, if proven by the defendant, defeats or mitigates the legal consequences of the defendant's otherwise unlawful conduct.
Equitable defenses are usually affirmative defenses asking the court to excuse an act because the party bringing the cause of action has acted in some inequitable way. Traditionally equitable defenses were only available at the Court of Equity and not available at common law.
Ohio (1986) established that states may make justification an affirmative defense, placing the burden of proof on defendant. [ 1 ] : 18 Patterson v. New York (1977) established that states may make excuses, such as involving mental state, an affirmative defense, rather than part of the mens rea element the prosecution must prove beyond a ...
Consent can be a defense to any intentional tort, although lack of consent is occasionally incorporated into the definition of an intentional tort, such as trespass to land. However, lack of consent is not always an essential element to establish a prima facie case in such situations. Therefore, it is properly treated as an affirmative defense.
However, in many jurisdictions, the entire burden to prove a crime is on the prosecution, which also must prove the absence of these defenses, where implicated. In other words, in many jurisdictions the absence of these so-called defenses is treated as an element of the crime. So-called defenses may provide partial or total refuge from punishment.
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They also authorize affirmative defenses like discretionary immunity. In the 1961 Muskopf v. Corning Hospital District decision, the California Supreme Court decided that "total governmental immunity […] does not exist" and would no longer protect the state and other public entities from civil liability for their torts. [ 18 ]
In a civil proceeding or criminal prosecution under the common law or under statute, a defendant may raise a defense (or defence) [a] in an effort to avert civil liability or criminal conviction. A defense is put forward by a party to defeat a suit or action brought against the party, and may be based on legal grounds or on factual claims.