Defendants Motion for Self-Defense Jury Instruction
Caption
“Justifiable use of force” under Illinois State Law Statute 720ILCS 5/7-1 is defined as; ‘a
person is justified in the use of force against another when and to the extent that he reasonably
believes that such conduct is necessary to prevent any imminent death or great bodily harm to
himself or others.’ The victim himself in this situation and scenario feared that Mr. Geller was
going to cause bodily harm to him based off the actions and words of Mr. Geller.
Introduction
In the United States, the right to self-defense cannot be taken away from anyone. It is said
that the Government should never intervene when reasonable or even defensive force in used in a
situation where force is deemed necessary. Both subjective and objective are both test that are
utilized to assess if the action and self-defense was done with malice or if they were in fact
exercising their right to self-defense. With saying that, they must assess if the victim acted within
his rights of self-defense and if the victim truthfully believed that Mr. Geller was going to be
cause bodily harm to him during this altercation. Again, these tests are to be given to define if the
victim was acting within the rights, they can legally exercise.
Statement of Facts
During a weekend camping trip that Mr. Bing attended with Mr. Newton and Mr. Geller,
Mr. Newton continued to try to discuss Mr. Bing’s outing with a female that he had went on
recently. Mr. Bing had in fact lied about the identity of this woman, so Mr. Geller was unaware
as to who the woman was that Mr. Bing was seeing. It just so happens that Mr. Bing was on an
outing with someone that Mr. Geller was familiar with. Mr. Bing was seeing Mr. Gellers ex-
girlfriend and had not been truthful about who he was going on outings with.
My. Bing was then assaulted by Mr. Geller who was furious that Mr. Bing had been
seeing his ex-girlfriend and had lied about the identity of the woman he was seeing. Becoming
knowledgeable about who Mr. Bing was seeing had caused rage throughout Mr. Geller, he
proceeded to hit him multiple times in the face without acknowledging that Mr. Bing was
apologizing and begging him to stop. During this altercation Mr. Newton had attempted to help
Mr. Bing by yelling out for Mr. Geller to stop assaulting Mr. Bing and even going to the lengths
at trying to separate the two. While Mr. Newton was attempting to deescalate the situation, Mr.
Geller proceeded to inform Mr. Newton that this fight was between him and Mr. Bing. After that,
Mr. Geller proceeds to pull a knife out that he had carried on him, and during the exchange of
words between Mr. Geller and Mr. Newton, Mr. Geller had the knife in his hand and proceeded
to slash Mr. Newtons arm with the knife causing bodily harm due to the slash causing him to
bleed from his arm. Mr. Newton was taken aback because he had stated that he had never seen
Mr. Geller act in this manner prior. Due to Mr. Newton never being in this situation with Mr.
Geller, Mr. Newton had fled looking for help to deescalate the situation. While Mr. Newton was
away attempting to find someone to help, Mr. Bing and Mr. Geller continued to circle each other
and while doing so Mr. Geller still had the knife, he originally slashed Mr. Newton within his
hand.
While Mr. Bing and Mr. Geller continued to circle each other Mr. Geller, again while
holding the same knife he just slashed Mr. Newton with, proceeded to charge at Mr. Bing with
every attempt to cause harm to Mr. Bing. Mr. Bing carries a weapon on him whenever he goes
on hikes or even camping as a form of self-protection against wildlife that could also cause harm
to him. In response to Mr. Geller charging at Mr. Bing with a weapon in his hand, Mr. Bing had
enough response time to withdraw his weapon from his bag and brandish the weapon in attempts
to intimidate Mr. Geller into stopping. On several attempts Mr. Bing had told Mr. Geller to ‘calm
down’. Even after Mr. Bings attempts to scare him off by waving the firearm around, Mr. Geller
proceeded to try and attack Mr. Bing. While Mr. Geller continued to try and charge at Mr. Bing
with the knife he continued to shout, ‘I will kill you for this and I am the only one who will come
out of this alive.’ Mr. Bing had then stated to Mr. Geller “I do not want to shoot you, but I will if
you do not stop.” Mr. Bing, fearing for his life, after several failed attempts to deescalate the
situation, and attempts to talk Mr. Geller and apologize, pulled the trigger in fear for his life. Mr.
Bing pulled the trigger and shot Mr. Geller once. Not twice, not multiple times but just once. Mr.
Bing was charged with first-degree murder.
Arguments
“Justifiable use of force” under Illinois State Law Statute 720ILCS 5/7-1 is defined as; ‘a
person is justified in the use of force against another when and to the extent that he reasonably
believes that such conduct is necessary to prevent any imminent death or great bodily harm to
himself or others.’ The victim himself in this situation and scenario feared that Mr. Geller was
going to cause bodily harm to him based off the actions and words of Mr. Geller. Such as in
‘People v Guetz.’ In People v Guetz someone was being attacked in the same manner that Mr.
Bing was being attacked and acted in the same manner of self-defense. With the exception that
names are changed, and Mr. Geller is deemed the aggressor in this case by charging at Mr. Bing
with a knife and shouting that he would kill him, one can understand how after several failed
attempts at conflict resolution that one would fear for their lives. Mr. Geller did in fact hit Mr.
Bing multiple times in the face while Mr. Bing asked him to stop. Mr. Geller then slashed Mr.
Newtons arm and then proceeded to attempt to attack Mr. Bing even after Mr. Newton fled.
Furthermore, Mr. Bings conduct and what was stated throughout the altercation while
also in the presence of Mr. Newton validate the reasoning behind Mr. Bings self-defense and
mitigate the first-degree murder charge. While Mr. Bing was being assaulted by Mr. Geller
throughout the altercation Mr. Geller continued to punch Mr. Bing. Mr. Bing had only
withdrawn his weapon in the hopes that it could calm Mr. Geller down. His intentions were to
intimidate Mr. Geller by waving the gun around and stating that he did not want to shoot and
hurt him, but if he refused to stop that he would have to shoot. Mr. Geller continued to advance
towards Mr. Bing even with several warnings given to him.
When Mr. Geller stated that he would be the only one walking away from the altercation
alive, could have easily caused Mr. Bing to fear for his life because at that moment Mr. Geller
was then letting Mr. Bing know he had full intentions on causing harm and potentially death to
Mr. Bing. Mr. Bing then proceeded to fire one shot at Mr. Geller, and if it had malicious intent
behind it, I do believe that Mr. Bing would have fired more than one shot to attempt to harm Mr.
Geller. Even during the beginning of the altercation when Mr. Bing apologized multiple times
while Mr. Geller proceeded to assault him, punching him in the face, all while Mr. Bing
continued to apologize and ask him to stop.
It was clear that Mr. Geller had every intention on causing harm to Mr. Bing that could
result in bodily injury or even death. Mr. Geller also had a significant height and weight different
than Mr. Newton or Mr. Bing. Mr. Geller was very athletic, during high school he ran cross
county track, meaning he was very quick on his feet and could outrun Mr. Bing if he attempted
to escape and Mr. Geller was 6 foot and weighed in about 190 pounds. Whereas Mr. Bing was
said to be 5 foot 11 inches weighing in at 175 pounds, and Mr. Newton was a similar size to Mr.
Bing at 5 foot 11 inches and 180 pounds. Therefore, Mr. Bings use of force is valid and in
accordance with Illinois Statute 720ILCS 5/7-1.
Conclusion
A person will waive their rights to self-defense when proven in a court of law that the act
was committed with malice and the crime was committed premeditated when responding to the
individual who is the aggressor. In this case the aggressor is Mr. Geller, and Mr. Geller
continued to attack Mr. Bing regardless of what Mr. Bing had said to try to refrain from the
confrontation with Mr. Geller. No matter how many times Mr. Bing begged Mr. Geller, no
matter how many times Mr. Bing attempted to warn Mr. Geller that he did not want to shoot, and
that he did not want to hurt him, Mr. Geller still proceeded to assault and try to cause harm to
Mr. Bing. Be mindful that during that altercation Mr. Geller also slashed Mr. Newtons arm for
trying to deescalate the situation and Mr. Newton had nothing to do with the disagreement or Mr.
Gellers ex-girlfriend. Mr. Bing attempted on several occasions to show he was armed and had
even made the statement that he did not want to shoot him. Mr. Bing also had only fired one shot
instead of multiple. Therefore, it would be absurd to find Mr. Bing guilty of first-degree murder
when he was acting in self-defense.
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