Criminial Law-Self-Defense
The ultimate defense to a crime against a person is self-defense. As a general rule, a person may use whatever force is reasonably necessary to prevent immediate and unlawful harm to him- or herself. Some jurisdictions have adopted the retreat rule that requires a person who can safely retreat to do so before using deadly force.
In general, the defense of self-defense permits a person to employ reasonable, nondeadly force to resist an unlawful arrest. However, as a practical matter, resisting an unlawful arrest is a risky maneuver because it could result in worse physical harm to the accused.
