Considerando http://www.trc.pt/index.php/jurisprudencia-do-trc/direito-pe... (estado de necessidade desculpante) que serve de factor atenuante na avaliação do crime. E "exculpatory evidence": (http://quizlet.com/8775708/chapter-8-the-courtroom-work-grou... Information having a tendency to clear a person of guilt or blame. It means that there were factors which could be taken into consideration as "factors mitigating the seriousness of the crime"

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Note added at 16 mins (2014-08-24 13:29:35 GMT)
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http://books.google.pt/books?id=DIbEcxaYlNIC&pg=PT278&lpg=PT...

exculpatory is understood.

The Criminal Codes of both Brazil and the UK provide as follows:.

1) Please see first internet page below for the Brazilian Code:

Sec. 23 - Exclusão da ilicitude

Não há crime quando o agente pratica o fato:
I - em estado de necessidade;
II - em legítima defesa;
III - em estrito cumprimento de dever legal ou no exercício regular de direito.
Excesso punível.

Sec. 24, on the other hand, defines 'necessity', which gives no support [acc. to our laws] to the defendant's pleas:

Considera-se em estado de necessidade quem pratica o fato para salvar de perigo atual, que não provocou por sua vontade, nem podia de outro modo evitar, direito próprio ou alheio, cujo sacrifício, nas circunstâncias, não era razoável exigir-se.
§ 1º - Não pode alegar estado de necessidade quem tinha o dever legal de enfrentar o perigo.
§ 2º - Embora seja razoável exigir-se o sacrifício do direito ameaçado, a pena poderá ser reduzida de um a dois terços.

2) The U.K. Criminal laws provide as follows:

[6-350] Introduction
The common law defence of necessity operates where circumstances (natural or human threats) bear upon the accused, inducing the accused to break the law to avoid even more dire consequences. There is, thus, some overlapping with the defence of duress. In R v Loughnan [1981] VR 443 at [448] it was held that the elements of the defence were that —
(i)
the criminal act must have been done in order to avoid certain consequences which would have inflicted irreparable evil upon the accused or upon others whom he or she was bound to protect;
(ii)
the accused must honestly have believed on reasonable grounds that he or she was placed in a situation of imminent peril; and
(iii)
the acts done to avoid the imminent peril must not be out of proportion to the peril to be avoided.

The 'exculpante' = 'exculpatory' adjective in the Brazilian description is a reinforcing term used by our lawyers, legal studies, and case law.

Full text of the codes can be seen by clicking on respective internet pages.

Just as a reminder, any translation should not be made in literal terms [mainly a legal translation, where compared laws should be its flagstone], as it's expected to be read and understood by an individual of a foreign country.