What happens if a minor killed an assualting drunken man? 35 Answers as of October 28, 2011

The possible sentence for any crime depends on the crime and many can be charged according to the DA's desires. If this is an actual event and the little girl or girls were charged, you need competent legal counsel now. There are defenses here, your question screams "self defense" "defense of others" and "defense of home" plus there could be others.

It sounds like self defense to me (protecting an innocent third person) But I really can't give a total, definitive answer without all the details of the incident.

That is quite a question. If the police and District Attorney believed that the young girl was acting to protect her sister from deadly force, they probably would not seek any punishment. They would have a lot of questions and do a great deal of forensic investigation (angles, time lines, etc.) before they believed that claim. If they did not believe the story, they may well charge the girl as an adult, plus any adults involved would certainly be charged as well.

If the second girl (the person who did the stabbing) had a reasonable fear that she was about to suffer grievous bodily harm or death or sexual assault, she was privileged to use reasonable force to defend herself or her sister. The amount of force used must be no more than is necessary to stop the attack. However the law gives some deference to situations where the attacker is bigger or stronger than his intended victim. It all comes down to what a jury would conclude but the child using the deadly force probably knew the assailant had assaulted her sister and it is the deceased assailant who forced her to use force so he can't complain that he was stabbed. If more violent criminals would take note, all women would be safer. As long as criminal assailants try to prey on weaker people, they shouldn't be heard to complain that their victim shot or stabbed them.

It depends on the circumstances just like the issue of self defense, there is a legal defense called defense of others. That girl needs an attorney if charged.

Nothing, if that's the way it was. Protection of another. You are going to need an attorney to protect you and sell that story. The DA is not your friend and will not listen to you.

This is ultimately a question of fact. The specific facts are very important to the outcome. This may be a case of self defense or the defense of another whereby the killing could be justified. However, if there is a time delay, it could be first degree murder, so this is a very tricky question. An attorney will need to investigate all the facts in order to make that opinion.

Whether a homicide or justifiable defense of another is at issue it your question. Deadly force typically can become a criminal charge if used in the defense of another where the deadly force outweighs the incident which is occurring. By this I mean, through example, that if a person grabs someone by the arms, a by-stander cannot stab them to death and validly claim self-defense/defense of another. The response, stabbing, far outweighs the event of grabbing. (e.g. assault). However, if the person is choking someone to death, a greater amount of force could be employed to validly claim self-defense/defense of another. The drunken state of the person is a factor to be considered, but it does not change the analysis. Your question is based on many facts which are not provided. You do not describe "attacked." You mention "saved her," but do not describe what she may be saved from. You then skip to punishment without mention of what the charge was or whether the 13-year old was charged as a juvenile and sentenced as an adult, or whether the matter was left as a juvenile charge. Your question is of such a gravity, that if this is an active case, the Internet is not the forum to raise specific questions. Rather, you may consider hiring an attorney to review the facts and present an appropriate defense after a review of the specific facts. As in all cases, the first question is culpability, e.g.: can there be a conviction? The second question is what penalty is appropriate. The will depend on what offense was charged and resulted in the conviction. Mitigating factors, such as intoxication, provocation, and other factors will effect the potential sentence.

She would likely rely on the defense of self defense. The question as to whether self defense was justifiedwouldbe one for the judge due to her age (13) and the likelihood that she would be treated as a juvenile.

This sounds like a fairly clear case of defense of self or others. It would depend on what kind of threat the drunk guy posed and whether the girls believed themselves to be in danger.