• For all nonhomicide offenses, there are five general elements of duress: (1) The defendant “acted under the compulsion or threat of imminent infliction of death or great bodily injury”; (2) the defendant “reasonably believed that death or great bodily harm would have been inflicted upon him [or another] had he not acted as he did”; (3) the compulsion or coercion was “imminent and impending and of such a nature as to induce a well-grounded apprehension of death or serious bodily harm if the act is not done”; (4) there was “no reasonable opportunity to escape the compulsion without committing the crime”; and (5) the defendant must not have put himself or herself in a situation where it was

“probable that he would have been subjected to compulsion or threat.”

• Some states expressly forbid a duress defense in homicide cases; some others treat it as an imperfect defense that could lead to a manslaughter conviction rather than a murder conviction.

Questions:-

1. Identify the elements of the duress defense.
2. Why can a duress defense rarely succeed in homicide cases?
3. Should the courts and state legislatures relax their treatment of duress in homicide cases? Why or why not?