In the 1959 film Anatomy of a Murder, small-town lawyer Paul Biegler (James Stuart) agrees to defend troubled Army Lieutenant Fredrick Manion (Ben Gazzara) when Lt. Manion is charged with murdering a man who may have been his wife’s lover. After a consultation, Mr. Biegler tells his client that there are four possible murder defenses: ‘it wasn’t you, it wasn’t murder, it was justified, or there was an excuse.’
Justification and excuse are both affirmative defenses in homicide cases, and self-defense is one such justification. In some jurisdictions and situations, affirmative defenses are more like mitigating circumstances for punishment purposes; this is especially true if the judge allows a “slow plea” in which the defendant pleads guilty to the offense and asks the court to assess punishment. But in most cases, self-defense is part of the defendant’s case-in-chief. Essentially, the defendant admits that he or she committed the crime but that the need for self-defense justified the action.
Self-defense is one of the most time-honored defenses in criminal law, as it goes all the way back to an essay that the English philosopher John Locke wrote in 1690. In modern-day Illinois, self-defense cases that involve the carrying a concealed weapon law (CCW) involve two basic pillars.
When it is Legal to Carry a Gun
First, the defendant must lawfully be in possession of a concealed weapon to use it in self-defense. When it comes to CCW permits, Illinois is a “must-issue” state as opposed to a “may-issue” state. In other words, while some jurisdictions permit bureaucrats to deny licenses based on rather subjective factors, Illinois bureaucrats must issue CCW licenses if the applicant meets the qualifications.
Although the law is rather broad in this respect, it is quite narrow in some other respects. CCW licensees cannot carry weapons while they are at:
- Most government buildings, like schools and courthouses,
- Some public facilities, like parks and public transportation facilities, or
- Any private businesses that display “no guns allowed” stickers.
- In most of these cases, licensees can keep their personal guns locked in their cars, and they are immune from unlawfully carrying a weapon (UCW) prosecutions.
Self-Defense Elements
To successfully employ the defense of self-defense, CCW licensees must first admit that they committed the basic elements of an assault or homicide or whatever. Next, they must prove that deadly force was reasonably necessary to prevent:
- A violent assault after the attacker enters, or attempts to enter, a private dwelling in “a violent, riotous, or tumultuous manner,” or
- Any felony in a dwelling.
The first scenario applies in homes, businesses, or any other indoor location, while the second scenario adopts the common-law “Castle Doctrine” which basically says that property owners have the right to defend the people in their homes with deadly force, at least in some cases. In Illinois, “reasonableness” is subjective in self-defense cases, so the defendants must only convince jurors that they reasonably believed their attackers had both the intent and the ability to use deadly force.
Count on Experienced Attorneys
CCW licensees may successfully claim self-defense, in some situations, if they are charged with a violent crime. For a confidential consultation with an experienced criminal defense attorney in Schaumburg, contact Glasgow & Olsson. We routinely handle matters throughout Chicagoland.