When charged with assault or battery, the most common defenses include self-defense, defense of others, or defense of property. Twenty-eight states currently have “stand your ground” laws, which hold that a person who is attacked in a place where she or he has a lawful right to be has no duty to retreat. In stand-your-ground states, a person has the right to stand his or her ground and meet force with force.
This includes using deadly force if it is reasonably believed that deadly force was necessary to prevent death or great bodily harm to oneself or others or to prevent a felony in progress. This makes self-defense a legal defense for criminal charges of assault or battery in stand-your-ground states. Illinois is not a stand-your-ground state, although it does employ the castle doctrine.