T.P.I. -- CRIM. 40.03

DEFENSE:  DURESS

            Included in the defendant's plea of not guilty is [his] [her] plea that [his] [her] acts constituting the offense charged were the result of duress.

            Duress is a defense to prosecution where:

            (1)  the [defendant] [a third person] is threatened with harm which is

                   present, imminent, impending and of such a nature as to induce a

                   well-grounded apprehension of death or serious bodily Injury if the act

                   is not done;

            (2)  the threatened harm is continuous throughout the time the act is being

                   committed;

            (3)  the harm is one from which the [defendant] [a third person] cannot

                   withdraw in safety; and

            (4)  the desirability and urgency of avoiding the harm clearly outweigh,

                   according to ordinary standards of reasonableness, the harm sought

                   to be prevented by the law proscribing the conduct.¹

            "Present" means now existing; relating to the present time.

            "Imminent" means near at hand; on the point of happening.

            "Impending" means to be imminent and threatening.

            "Serious bodily injury" means bodily injury which involves a substantial risk of death; protracted unconsciousness; extreme physical pain; protracted or obvious disfigurement; or protracted loss or substantial impairment of a function of a bodily member, organ or mental faculty.²

            If evidence is introduced supporting the defense of duress, the burden is on the state to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant did not act from duress.³

            Any reasonable doubt on the issue of whether the defendant acted from duress requires the defendant to be found not guilty.⁴

            If you find from the proof that the defendant acted as a result of duress of if you have a reasonable doubt as to whether or not the defendant acted as a result of duress, then you must find [him] [her] not guilty.

            [This defense is unavailable to a person who intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly becomes involved in a situation in which it was probable that the person would be subjected to compulsion.]⁵

FOOTNOTES

  1.  Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-11-504(a).

  2.  Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-11-106(a)(33).  Some trial judges are of the opinion

       that the definition of "bodily injury," Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-11-106(a)(2),

       should be given in connection with the definition of "serious bodily injury."

  3.  Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-11-201(a)(3).

  4.  Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-11-203(d).

  5.  Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-11-504(b).  If the bracketed paragraph is used,

       definitions should be given for the three mental states.