What is a affirmative defense?
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An affirmative defense is an answer and defense strategy to a criminal charge. The defendant readily admits that yes, he did the illegal act, but he is claiming an affirmative defense. For example, yes he did the crime, but he was forced to commit it (duress), or he was entraped (entrapment), which claims misconduct by law enforcement officials.
The entrapment defense is seldom successful because most law enforcement agencies train their personnel how not to commit entrapment. On the other hand, a defense of duress (someone made me do it) has a very high success rate and is used frequently if the facts of the case will substantiate the claims by the defendant and his lawyer. In example, yes I robbed the bank, but they told me that if I didn't do it, they would harm my family.
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