Is the Reasonable Person Test Adaptable?

We’ve talked a bunch about the Reasonable Person Test including under this topic: Self-Defense Defense-Understanding the "Reasonable Person Test"

But there’s a twist that we haven’t talked about yet. What if your reality is totally different than a “normal” reasonable person?

"Preservation is instinctive and then when you have abuse, whether it be psychological abuse, verbal abuse, or certainly physical abuse or a combination of them then you have fear, and when you have someone that lives in fear, their reactions, depending on the circumstances, are going to be different than someone who has lived a rational happy life,”

That quote comes from this article about 17-year-old Anthony Templet:

It’s an ugly and very sad situation. Do you think someone subject to prolonged emotional, mental, and/or physical abuse should have different criteria for self-defense than the reasonable person test?

Do you think the reasonable person test can adapt to this type of situation?

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It always has been but with a Gender Bias. I’ve known of quite a few cases over the years where the “Abused Wife/Spouse” defense has been used successfully.

I have yet to hear of a case where a man has used it with any success.

I’ve seen it work well enough for women to avoid charges completely, or to get “No Billed” by a grand jury when the DA didn’t want to make the call him/herself.

If you are tried, of course it’s always up to the jury and anything can happen. Remember, OJ was “Not Guilty” and many clear cut lawful self defense, Felony Assault, Attempted Murder, and Murders trials resulted in conviction due to various biases.

What is reasonable and lawful at trial always falls to the jury and judges are loathe to set aside verdicts because of appellate issues.

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This is a deeply personal issue for me. My childhood was hell. Imagine the abuse type, and it was done to me, by someone I should have been able to trust. It started at 8, and went on until I joined the military. I reported it, I ran away, but due to that person’s connections. I was the problem.

With the help of a truly caring therapist, and the love of my wife, I was able to get my life back.

But in answer, to the question. Yes it should, make a difference. I see the world completely different, due to my life experience, I am far more guarded, and very suspicious of anyone’s motives. I have had to work very hard to be reasonable, even when my every instinct is to be elsewise.

It’s why I am so protective of my family. I know the statistics for abuse, and how a significant portion grow up to be abusers and I made up my mind that all of it stopped with me. It’s one of the reasons I am so proud of my daughter.

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