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by weeooweeoo on November 2nd, 2006

weeooweeoo

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If I get raped, and happen to have a knife on me and I stab (and possibly kill) my rapist, would I be held liable for murder?

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Answers. 35 helpful answers below.

  • by XxEmoxX on November 2nd, 2006

    XxEmoxX

    no.. its self defence..

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  • by Roger Kovaciny on November 3rd, 2006

    Roger Kovaciny

    Rape is a crime of violence, not of lust. The object is to hurt and humiliate you and often ends with the victim's death. You are entirely justified in a true rape situation in doing whatever it takes to make the perp take "no" for an answer. It's better to be tried by twelve than to be carried out by six.

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  • by tisha13 on November 2nd, 2006

    tisha13

    NO BECAUSE YOU ARE PROTECTING YOURSELF

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  • by branciforte3241 on November 18th, 2006

    branciforte3241

    Generally, that is self-defence. But, it depends on how far you take it. Your response must be proportional. The jury must decide what a reasonable person would do in your situation. If you stab him, a flesh wound, and he stops, then you have self-defence. If you then continue to kill him, then you may have a problem. And if you kill him after the rape, after a period of cooling down, then you are definitely looking at murder.

    Even if you did go too far, during the rape, chances are that a court would call this either a crime of passion (not the romantic kind) or else an Etreme Emotional Distress, which would mitigate murder down to manslaughter.

    That's the law. I doubt that you would be able to find a jury in the world who would convict you for killing a rapist.

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  • by Prasanna Kumar on December 21st, 2006

    Prasanna Kumar

    As everybody said.. ill do the same too.

    "As an act of self defense, you tried to free yourself, wherein the accused got killed".

    Nope you will be left free provided that all the evidence proves that you were forced by the accused to do something against your wish and is harmful to you.

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  • by mindfarm on November 2nd, 2006

    mindfarm

    I think rape is going to be traumatizing enough as is, that and the stress and panic(Anxiety), you will be doing what the adrenaline allows you, This is called Fight or Flight. Generally in a life threatening, or terrorizing event the adrenaline kicks in to give you the instant energy and strength to do what is necessary to save your life. You will do what it takes to get away. Asking to know if you can legally kill someone still sounds premeditated. Are you planning on being raped? Or have you been raped and killed a guy and haven't told anyone until you knew whether you would get away with it or not. Seriously though. Answerbag is not the place to seek legal advice like this. I would talk to law enforcement or even better a lawyer who has dealt with self defense cases. Generally speakign you are allowed to defend yourself. Even concealed carry courses have a class that teaches the legal use of lethal force. I hope all this helps and you seek a real professionals help to answer your questions

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  • by AntigoneRising on November 2nd, 2006

    AntigoneRising

    No you wouldn't; that's self-defense.

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  • by Anonymous on December 30th, 2006

    Anonymous

    In most states First Degree Rape is one of the crimes that it is permissible to use Deadly Force against, either as a victim or someone trying to assist a victim. Check with your local and state Police.

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  • by JUSTNORMAL on November 2nd, 2006

    JUSTNORMAL

    I think that if you did have a knife and wounded or killed a rapist, that would be self defense. However, to carry one on Halloween is not a good idea, as it is a concealed weapon. So there are two sides to the coin...Kids, knives and guns, are out of control, so please use good judgement.

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  • by Sunblynd 5.0 on May 11th, 2007

    Sunblynd 5.0

    If you feared for your life, then yes, it could be considered justifiable homicide or self defense.

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  • by Brickson on December 23rd, 2006

    Brickson

    Wow, I just hope nothing like that ever happens to ya.

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  • by TheAnswerer on November 2nd, 2006

    TheAnswerer

    Not necessarily. It would matter what state/province you are in. They might have different laws. But that would be self defense. If someone was going to rape you, then what else would you do if you had a knife? Give it to him? Let me ask a question, why rape? What about something else?

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  • by Sunblynd 5.0 on November 2nd, 2006

    Sunblynd 5.0

    If you felt your person or life in jepordy, in other words you fear for your life...it may constitute a manner of self defense to halt your attackers advances by any means neccessary to preserve your life.
    It may depend on the state and it's laws, and if the prosecutor wishes to pursue you criminally, however the basis for self defense can be easily interpreted to a jury by a good attorney.

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  • by beenaroundtheblock on December 31st, 2006

    beenaroundtheblock

    Probably not, but you never know how it will play out in court, better to try to avoid that if at all possible.

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  • by Anonymous on December 31st, 2006

    Anonymous

    It actually depends. If you stab them to protect yourself then it is self-defense. But if you stab them after the rape has ocurred then it's revenge & that wouldn't be self-defense. But I guess one could always argue that you were afraid he would try to rape you again & you were just protecting yourself.

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  • by JUSTNORMAL on December 30th, 2006

    JUSTNORMAL

    Problem is, this was all about Halloween, however when a woman is raped she is rarely armed with a knife or gun. If someone should break into her home, she might have a chance of grabbing something to knock him out at least. If a woman is jogging perhaps, she would most likely scream and have a cell phone. Date rape/acquaintance rape is a different situation. This is someone you "think" you know and trust and when it happens, one tends to go into survival mode and shock and completely go numb, and sort of outside their body. Sometimes it does not register for days or more. Shock is a defense mechanism and thank God for that. Rarely in many situations such as this, stabbing or killing the monster does not even enter your mind, till later on. OMG I am wordy

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  • by Wendora on December 30th, 2006

    Wendora

    I carry a knife but it's only good for maybe cleaning under my fingernails. I think if I stabbed someone with this thing, my chances of mortally wounding them are pretty slim. Maybe I should learn some deadly defense tactics...

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  • by O_hare on November 3rd, 2006

    O_hare

    Well he raped me, i had to stab him. It was self defense, you could've gotten a butcher knife and chop him into peices and put them in a blender and then set whats remaining on fire and set the ashes on fire and it will still be self defense.

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  • by toripanda77 on December 31st, 2006

    toripanda77

    I would hope not. That is scary to think about. I agree with a previous poster - rape is an act of violence, and I would think that a knife pulled out on the rapist in the middle of the violent act would be considered self-defense.

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  • by mt_si_guy on February 16th, 2008

    mt_si_guy

    Probably not. But just to be safe you'd want to word it like this in any police interviews: "On the above date and time Mr. x initiated a violent sexual assault, I feared for my life and had no choice but to use lethal force." When you say you feared for your life you're pretty much off the hook for anything.

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  • by Sin Binned on July 22nd, 2007

    Sin Binned

    no

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  • by P. W. Pasobrio loves Marines on May 31st, 2007

    P. W. Pasobrio loves Marines

    No, you wouldn't. Rape is a capital offense and the use of deadly force on the attacker is allowed. Here's the way cops are trained if you or someone else is being attacked by someone and the only way you have to neutralize the attack is to use deadly force it's a justfiable homicide. Rape constitues an attack of such brute force that it falls under this code. You also would be found to have a resonable assumtion that your attacker would kill you even if he later was found to have no weapon. This is because he more then likely was restraining you with one hand around your throat or threating you with death if you resisted.

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  • by 51dragonic on May 31st, 2007

    51dragonic

    I believe, if he is raping you at the time and you stab him, that would be self defense. But if you did it when you saw him for a second time, there is a very slight chance that you might get off with 10-20 years if you plead he was a danger to society.
    If you have actually done this, or something like it, I would suggest at least going to see a counciler. You might not have done this, and you were metaforically speaking, but I am quick to worry when someone asks a question like this.

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  • by DreAnna on May 31st, 2007

    DreAnna

    No..self defense

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  • by Anonymous on May 31st, 2007

    Anonymous

    That is self defense, and would be justified.

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  • by granem67 on May 31st, 2007

    granem67

    Probably not, but it is not as simple as the answer you chose. Self defense allows you to use comensurate force (equal) when someone uses force on you. If they have a gun you can use one. But you can't bring a knife to a fistfight. Deadly force only applies if the person REASONABLY believes their life is in danger. Just cause you are deathly afraid of clowns doesn't mean you can kill one if he won't leave you alone. Most likely the rapist will have a weapon; just about any weapon (knife or gun) are considered "deadly" weapons which would allow someone to use deadly force in return. Realistically you would never be charged. But the level of force one can use to defend oneself or property is very misunderstood. I.E Most people think that if someonew breaks into your house you can shoot them. WRONG. Only if they threaten your life. Think about it, even though they are in your home, should you really be allowed to kill someone for your TV?

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  • by DreAnna on May 11th, 2007

    DreAnna

    Its self defense..they will of course investigate it..but you would not be charged

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  • by Sheriff Raff -Answerhag on May 31st, 2007

    Sheriff Raff -Answerhag

    I love all these "if" questions.

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  • by -O-uknow on May 31st, 2007

    -O-uknow

    Aye..If after the fact. If so lie and say it was during the rape you stabbed your assailant.

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  • by Sheriff Raff -Answerhag on May 11th, 2007

    Sheriff Raff -Answerhag

    why didn't you stab him in the first place?

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  • by Anonymous on February 16th, 2008

    Anonymous

    If you were to ask "could" you be liable for murder, the answer is yes depending on the facts of the rape.

    Since you asked "would" you be held liable, the answer is most likely no. First, since you are asking about liability (and not guilt), I am assuming you are asking about a wrongful death suit. Lethal self defense is only an affirmative defense if used to repel lethal force (or the threat thereof). If you were date raped, and not forcibly raped by a stranger, it is unlikely you would have been justified using lethal force. However, you would still most likely not be liable because you would be a very sympathetic defendant (assuming they jury believed you were actually raped).

    The same would be true for criminal charges. If there was clear evidence that you were raped, most DA's would never bring charged against you, even if they could based on the facts of your case.

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  • by ChrisDC on August 19th, 2009

    ChrisDC

    So far as I know, violent action to prevent a sexual assault is NOT murder in any jurisdiction in the United States.

    Here, it's pretty universal that deadly force is acceptable to prevent a sexual assault.

    The laws in other countries may differ. Personally, I endorse our system in the U.S.

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  • by Anonymous on December 31st, 2006

    Anonymous

    I would just like to clarify that it is ILLEGAL weapons that are out of control. However, think before you act. Unless someone is tryng to kill you or cause you great bodily harm as in the case of rape, it isn't worth it.

    Running is a form of self defense, you should only stand your ground when escape is no longer an option. Your primary goal is to preserve yourself, not take on your attacker if you can avoid it.

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  • by Anonymous on July 29th, 2009

    Anonymous

    not for murder probably but there might me questions asked about why you were carrying a knife....

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  • by Babycakes Deux on February 16th, 2008

    Babycakes Deux

    No - self-defense is not a crime.

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