Legal Question in Criminal Law in California

That's going to depend on more facts, such as where you were, who the parties are and whether you had the opportunity to just walk away. For example, the rules of self defense are significantly different if the parties are engaged in mutual combat, rather than an incident where you are in your home and attacked by a stranger.

The jury instruction for self defense states that you can use reasonable force to defend yourself. It is not written in stone what reasonable is. I recently obtained a very good result in a case in which my client used a metal rod to defend himself against an unarmed man. The key was the unarmed man had my client in a choke hold and he did what he had to do to save his life. It is all in the details of the case. The jury instruction also says you do not have to be cornered to use self defense, at least in many western states. Each state differs as to that, but here you can stand your ground. Good luck to you.

There is no specific answer to your question, as stated. Bottom line is one can use reasonable self defense if confronted by another. What amount of force one uses in defense of self is dependent on a myriad of facts. Where, when, knowledge of the assailant, possibility of the assailant being under the influence of drugs or alcohol, others present who may have aided the asailant , and the list goes on and on, depending on the specifice facts present in a given case. It all comes down to, if ,based on all the facts, the person acting in self defense, acted as a reasonable person in that persons position, than, self defense is valid. Also it should be noted, that, if the defense of self defense is raised, the prosecution has the burden of proof, to show that self defense was not resonable....and that must be shown beyond a reasonable doubt. I hope that helps....;David Wallin