What Is a Legal Defense?

A legal defense is a bar to a conviction. That is very different from being not guilty.

Entrapment, self defense, insanity, duress, these are legal defenses. In effect you are saying yes I did it but you can’t convict me.

The problem with asserting a legal defense is that you have to admit your guilt and then prove your legal defense.

A legal defense is created by statute or by court rule.