Unlock Business Brilliance 2026 – Ace the Legal Environment of Business 1 Test!

When a person commits a crime under duress, it means they were forced to act against their will due to the immediate threat of harm. In Justin's situation, if he was compelled to steal because someone threatened him with significant harm if he did not comply, he can assert duress as a defense. This legal principle recognizes that when a person's free will is overcome by coercive threats, their culpability is reduced because they had no real choice in the matter.

Duress is specifically applicable here because it directly relates to the circumstances of the act, highlighting the lack of volition in Justin's decision to commit theft. For the defense of duress to be valid, he must demonstrate that the threat was immediate, serious, and involved fear of death or serious bodily harm.

While insanity operates under the premise that a person could not understand the nature of their actions due to a mental disorder, and self-defense applies when someone acts to protect themselves from imminent harm, neither of those align with the scenario where someone is forced to commit a crime due to threats from another person. Coercion can be a general term that overlaps with duress but is less commonly used in legal defenses compared to the established term "duress." Therefore, citing duress