Delaware § 431 Duress as affirmative defense; defense unavailable in certain situations

Delaware Statutes

§ 431 — Duress as affirmative defense; defense unavailable in certain situations

Delaware § 431

Title11

PartDelaware Criminal Code

Ch. 4DEFENSES TO CRIMINAL LIABILITY

This text of Delaware § 431 (Duress as affirmative defense; defense unavailable in certain situations) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Delaware primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook

Del. Code tit. 11, § 431 (2026).

Text

(a)In any prosecution for an offense, it is an affirmative defense that the defendant engaged in the conduct charged to constitute the offense because the defendant was coerced to do so by the use of, or a threat to use, force against the defendant’s person or the person of another, which a reasonable person in the defendant’s situation would have been unable to resist.

(b)The defense provided by subsection (a) of this section is unavailable if the defendant intentionally or recklessly placed himself or herself in a situation in which it was probable that the defendant would be subjected to duress.

(c)It is not a defense that a woman acted on the command of her husband, unless she acted under such coercion as would establish a defense under this section. The presumption that a woman a

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(a) In any prosecution for an offense, it is an affirmative defense that the defendant engaged in the conduct charged to constitute the offense because the defendant was coerced to do so by the use of, or a threat to use, force against the defendant’s person or the person of another, which a reasonable person in the defendant’s situation would have been unable to resist.

(b) The defense provided by subsection (a) of this section is unavailable if the defendant intentionally or recklessly placed himself or herself in a situation in which it was probable that the defendant would be subjected to duress.

(c) It is not a defense that a woman acted on the command of her husband, unless she acted under such coercion as would establish a defense under this section. The presumption that a woman acting in the presence of her husband is coerced is abolished.