Maine statute
17-A M.R.S. § 103 — Competing harms
Current through First Special Session of the 132nd Maine Legislature (current through October 1, 2025)
Part of Chapter 5: Defenses and Affirmative Defenses; Justification, Maine Revised Statutes.
Full text of 17-A M.R.S. § 103
Statutory text current through the First Special Session of the 132nd Maine Legislature (current through October 1, 2025). This publication reproduces the statutory text of the Maine Revised Statutes from the Revisor of Statutes' official published files; it is not the official statutes of the State of Maine and has not been certified by the Secretary of State.
1. Conduct that the person believes to be necessary to avoid imminent physical harm to that person or another is justifiable if the desirability and urgency of avoiding such harm outweigh, according to ordinary standards of reasonableness, the harm sought to be prevented by the statute defining the crime charged. The desirability and urgency of such conduct may not rest upon considerations pertaining to the morality and advisability of such statute.
2. When the person was reckless or criminally negligent in bringing about the circumstances requiring a choice of harms or in appraising the necessity of the person's conduct, the justification provided in subsection 1 does not apply in a prosecution for any crime for which recklessness or criminal negligence, as the case may be, suffices to establish criminal liability.
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