Massachusetts common law allows criminal defendants to seek acquittal at trial on the basis of “necessity.”
According to the Supreme Judicial Court,
Under the common law defense of justification by necessity, a crime committed under the pressure of imminent danger may be excused if the harm sought to be avoided far exceeds the harm resulting from the crime committed.
Commonwealth v. Schuchardt, 408 Mass. 347, 349 (1990).
The defense is permissible in the following circumstances:
(1) the defendant is faced with a clear and imminent danger, not one which is debatable or speculative;
(2) the defendant can reasonably expect that his [or her] action will be effective as the direct cause of abating the danger;
(3) there is [no] legal alternative which will be effective in abating the danger; and
(4) the Legislature has not acted to preclude the defense by a clear and deliberate choice regarding the values at issue.
Id.