§ 12.1-17-08 — Consent as a defense

1. When conduct is an offense because it causes or threatens bodily injury, consent to
such conduct or to the infliction of such injury by all persons injured or threatened by
the conduct is a defense if:
a. Neither the injury inflicted nor the injury threatened is such as to jeopardize life or
seriously impair health;
b. The conduct and the injury are reasonably foreseeable hazards of joint
participation in a lawful athletic contest or competitive sport; or
c. The conduct and the injury are reasonably foreseeable hazards of an occupation
or profession or of medical or scientific experimentation conducted by recognized
methods, and the persons subjected to such conduct or injury, having been made
aware of the risks involved, consent to the performance of the conduct or the
infliction of the injury.
2. Assent does not constitute consent, within the meaning of this section, if:
a. It is given by a person who is legally incompetent to authorize the conduct
charged to constitute the offense and such incompetence is manifest or known to
the actor;
b. It is given by a person who by reason of youth, mental disease or defect, or
intoxication is manifestly unable or known by the actor to be unable to make a

reasonable judgment as to the nature or harmfulness of the conduct charged to
constitute the offense; or
c. It is induced by force, duress, or deception.