Definition of a "reasonable person"

[Baitball Blogger]

I've read the options on the internet and most of them are not concise enough to relay what I would like to communicate. Essentially, what I'm looking for is a definition that will state that a reasonable person would expect a defendant to follow the law. period.

It seems obvious, but I haven't seen any definition that hits it on the nail.

Anyone have better sources than I do?

[cthulu2016]

1. The "reasonable person" standard would refer to the defendant, not a juror

For legal questions involving reasonableness, the juror imposes a notion of what a "reasonable" person would think or do in a set of circumstances.

Would a reasonable person have left a cocked bear-trap on the sidewalk? Someone might have really thought the chance of anyone waking down the sidewalk was zero, but that was not what a *reasonable* person would think.

For instance, you can shoot someone in self-defense if you *reasonably* believe that doing so is necessary to saving your life.

A person might genuinely think that a baby is going to shoot death rays from its eyes at him, but that belief is not *reasonable.* A typical, morally sane person in the same circumstance would NOT have thought himself in imminent danger from a baby so, no matter what his state of mind was, the fear is not a *reasonable* fear.

On the other hand, a person menaced with a gun that turns out to be unloaded or a realistic toy would have a *reasonable* fear, but not a factually correct fear. A *reasonable* person is often mistaken about things... as are we all.

A juror would say that an average reasonable person might, in the same circumstance, have that fear.

All reasonability standards are NOT state of mind standards. You could not simply say "I was afraid" without that fear then being examined to see if a *reasonable person* would have felt that way.

In practice, jurors usually use themselves as their reasonable person standard which is not quite right, but close enough. "In that lighting, *I* might have thought it was a real gun..."

[bemildred]

2. +1. A person is reasonable if the jury says so, otherwise not.

That is what juries are for.

[Bandit]

4. Would a "reasonable" person enter a bar for a night of drinking while carrying a loaded gun?

In many states that is considered a reasonable action... I no longer know what reasonable really is..

[Baitball Blogger]

5. Thank you! That is a great explanation!

[Ms. Toad]

3. You're not likely to find that.

Partly because there are many situations in which reasonable people expect others to break the law. The easy example is speed limits - how many times have you heard someone treat the speed limit as an expected minimum, rather than the maximum? I hear, "They aren't even going the speed limit!" said in frustration because someone is complying with the law, rather than equalling (still in compliance) or exceeding (not in compliance) the speed limit.

[Baitball Blogger]

6. That's the impression I was getting when I read the explanation.