MITIGATING CIRCUMSTANCES

Secondary facts that don’t completely negate or absolve a wrongful action but tend to show that the defendant’s culpability should be placed a lesser level. For example, a defendant may have used a gun recklessly and should be held responsible for injuring another person. However, evidence may show that the defendant had good reasons to be afraid and that some degree of the ostensible misconduct may be explainable by the presence of this justifiable fear.