Defense of others

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A person who uses force to defend another person from violence can also be justified and thus not criminally responsible for the use of force. In the United States, the same rules as for self-defense generally apply. Thus, to successfully raise this defense, the defendant must reasonably have believed that the person he assisted had the legal right to use force in his own self-defense. A majority of jurisdictions in the United States permit the use of force to defend any other person. A small number of jurisdictions require that the person the defendant was defending must either be related to the defendant or an employee or employer of the defendant.