Also known as: extenuates · extenuated · extenuating · extenuation · mitigate · extenuating circumstances
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
To lessen the severity of an offense, reduce the amount of damages or punishment, or alleviate the harshness of a legal consequence.
A client used his lawyer's services to commit fraud that caused substantial financial injury to investors. The lawyer disclosed limited information to authorities. The disclosure operated to extenuate the injury by allowing recovery of assets before further losses occurred.
A defendant honestly believed deadly force was necessary to repel an attack but the belief was unreasonable. The honest belief operated to extenuate the killing from murder to voluntary manslaughter under the applicable common-law rule.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
A tenant abandoned the leased property before the end of the term. The landlord chose not to relet and instead recovered accrued rent. The absence of any duty to relet operated to prevent the landlord's inaction from extenuating the tenant's liability for future rent.
After conviction under a federal statute, defense counsel presented evidence of the defendant's limited role and remorse. The presentation operated to extenuate the sentence by persuading the court to impose a term below the guideline range.
An employer faced liability for unfair labor practices that caused employee losses. The employer offered reinstatement and back pay. The offer operated to extenuate the harm and reduce the amount of the remedy ultimately awarded.
A suspect made incriminating statements during interrogation without receiving warnings. Counsel later argued that surrounding circumstances should extenuate the weight given to the statements at trial.
Extenuation reduces the severity of liability or punishment but does not eliminate it entirely. A complete defense such as justification would result in acquittal or no liability.
Yes. The rule permits limited disclosure precisely to extenuate or prevent substantial financial injury resulting from a client's crime or fraud when the lawyer's services were used in furtherance of the wrongdoing.
Under the cited restatement provision, the landlord has no duty to relet and therefore the landlord's inaction does not extenuate the tenant's ongoing liability for rent.
At common law in some jurisdictions an honest but unreasonable belief that deadly force was necessary in self-defense can extenuate what would otherwise be murder to voluntary manslaughter.
…significant subsidiary functions as well. If the accused decides to talk to his interrogators, the assistance of counsel can mitigate the dangers of untrustworthiness. With a lawyer present the likelihood that the police will practice coercion is reduced, and if coercion is nevertheless exercised the lawyer can testify to…