A claim of self-defense, or justification, to use the term employed in the Crimes Code (in 18 Pa.C.S. § 505), requires evidence establishing three elements:
- (a) that the defendant reasonably believed that he was in imminent danger of death or serious bodily injury and that it was necessary to use deadly force against the victim to prevent such harm;
- (b) that the defendant was free from fault in provoking the difficulty which culminated in the slaying; and
- (c) that the defendant did not violate any duty to retreat.
Once justification, or self-defense or the defense of others, is raised, defendants and their Bucks County criminal defense lawyers do not have to prove that they did act in a manner justified by the circumstances, but the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania has to prove they did not act in a justified manner. The Commonwealth has to disprove self-defense or other justification not merely by a preponderance of the evidence but beyond a reasonable doubt. This is a big shift. In common law, the burden was on the defense. Now, it is on the prosecutor.
The use of force is justified if the person using the force reasonably believes under all the circumstances that such force is immediately necessary to protect himself or to protect others (see 18 Pa. Cons. Stat. Ann. §§ 505 & 506).