Whats a Reasonable Person?
People often speak of “common sense,” or otherwise make appeals to what a normal, sensible person would do. It doesn’t take much thinking, however, to realize how difficult to define a “reasonable person” really is. Since the idea of a reasonable person has proven important in criminal law, lawyers and judges have gone to lengths to understand how exactly such a person would behave. Given the work legal experts have put into that definition, it’s important for any layman trying to understanding criminal law to understand how exactly a “reasonable person” is defined under the law. In particular, if you find yourself for whatever reason involved in a criminal case, understanding this definition can make it easier to understand the whole process. Strictly speaking, the “reasonable person” is what’s called a legal fiction: a hypothetical thing or notion that’s useful for understanding and formulating laws. Of course, since this person is hypothetical, there isn’t, say, a specific person la
