Commonwealth v. Eberle

Commonwealth v. Eberle, 474 Pa. 548, 379 A.2d 90 (1977),[1] is a criminal case involving duty to retreat.[2] The case established that in order to counter the justification or excuse of self defense, the prosecution must show that a defendant who used deadly force had a safe opportunity to escape.[3][2]

Commonwealth v. Eberle
Court	Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
Full case name	Commonwealth of Pennsylvania v. Carol Eberle
Decided	October 7, 1977
Citation(s)	474 Pa. 548, 379 A.2d 90
Court membership
Judges sitting	Michael J. Eagen, Henry X. O'Brien, Thomas W. Pomeroy Jr., Robert N. C. Nix, Jr., Louis L. Manderino
Case opinions
Decision by	Manderino
Dissent	O'Brien, Nix
Benjamin R. Jones and Samuel J. Roberts took no part in the consideration or decision of the case.
Keywords
Self-defense duty to retreat

References

1. Commonwealth v. Eberle, 474 Pa. 548, 379 A.2d 90 (1977).
2. Justification:Self-Defense, Encyclopedia of Crime and Justice 948-49 (1983)
3. Eberle, 474 Pa. at 557-58 ("[T]he prosecution had a duty to establish that the appellant knew that she could avoid the necessity of using deadly force with complete safety by retreating... Because the prosecution has failed to show that the only escape route which appellant possibly could have used to avoid the confrontation could have been used without increasing the risk of injury to which she was already exposed, it has failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that appellant violated any duty to retreat.")