An affirmative defense is adefensein which thedefendantintroducesevidence, which, if found to be credible, will negatecriminalliabilityorcivil liability, even if it is proven that the defendant committed the alleged acts. The party raising the affirmative defense has the burden of proof on establishing that it applies. Raising an affirmative defense does not prevent a party from also raising other defenses.
Self-defense,entrapment,insanity,necessity, andrespondeat superiorare some examples of affirmative defenses.
Under theFederal Rules of Civil ProcedureRule 56, any party may make amotionforsummary judgmenton an affirmative defense.
There is some dispute as to whether certain defenses are actually affirmative defenses, or just standard defenses. For example, in Florida self-defense is an affirmative defense but in Ohio, it is not.
[Last updated in June of 2022 by the Wex Definitions Team]
