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Duress And Provocation As Excuses To Murder: Salutary Lessons From Recent Anglo-American Jurisprudence, Alan Reed

Florida State University Journal of Transnational Law & Policy

The defenses of duress and provocation can be analogized as concessions to human frailty. Both defenses are predicated upon "confession and avoidance." In each scenario, the defendants actually admit the completion of the actus reus with the attendant mens rea (confession) but seek to excuse their conduct to deny criminal liability (avoidance). Essentially, both defenses involve a concoction of excuse, moral involuntariness, and human frailty. They focus attention on legitimate societal expectations of the reasonable man in criminal law. Unfortunately, the Anglo-American tradition, vis a vis these defenses, is replete with vagaries, inconsistencies, and anomalies. Comparing these defenses in English …