Necessity defense requires which condition?

• A. The harm must be proven to be certain rather than imminent.
• B. The defendant must choose the lesser of two evils.
• C. The defense allows any crime if beneficial to someone.
• D. No lawful alternatives exist to prevent imminent harm, making the act necessary.

Answer: (D)

Necessity defense rests on acting to prevent an imminent harm when there is no lawful alternative available. The key idea is that you’re choosing the lesser evil only because there’s no other legal way to avert the immediate danger, and the response must be necessary and proportionate to the threat. That’s why the statement about there being no lawful alternatives to prevent imminent harm, making the act necessary, is the best fit. The other options don’t capture that combination: requiring certainty of harm rather than immediacy, prescribing that you must always pick the lesser evil, or allowing any crime if it seems beneficial are not accurate descriptions of how necessity is evaluated. A practical example is breaking into a cabin to seek shelter when a life-threatening storm is approaching and no other legal shelter is available.