It’s a holiday weekend, I’m betting they’ll chime in tomorrow.
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Even if it’s considered self-defense? I know more states are starting to say that you cannot be sued by the aggressor if you injure/kill them in the process of self-defense. Are there any laws like that in your state?
I agree, @Roger!
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I sent myself a link to this story, to see if any charges are brought. I’ll do my best to make updates as they come, if they come.
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Unfortunately yes, particularly in states like CA, NJ, NY etc.
In Texas we have two different statutes covering it.
You can be sued civilly by the bad guy you shot, or his surviving family. There’s a statute in Texas that governs whether or not you’ll be held liable for damages in such a suit. Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code Section 83.001 says that if you use force, or deadly force that’s justified in self-defense, defense of others, or defensive property, you’re immune from civil liability for personal injury or death that results.
Note: This statute doesn’t prevent you from being sued, having to answer the lawsuit, and appear in court. It only prevents you from being held liable in money damages. So even if you were never charged with a crime, you had your case dismissed, or you were acquitted by a jury, you still have to answer that civil lawsuit and show the court that your use of deadly force was legally justified.
By the language of the Practice and Remedies Code this immunity from having to pay money damages is only good for personal injury and death. So even if you were justified in defending yourself, you can still be held liable for any property damage that your stray or over-penetrated bullet might have caused.
You can be sued, you can even be found at fault in a civil trial in spite of the claim of SD being upheld criminally.
The statute however protects you from civil liability so they can’t collect.
As stated above though, you can be held liable for property damages resulting from the shooting even if again, your use of SD was justified.
Kinda crazy but we’re still working on it.
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Unfortunately the story is very weak on details. If you follow the story let us know when the shooting report and forensics are made public.
He may be perfectly justified but the head shot is going to complicate his defense.
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When i went through the NRA Law Enforcement Instructors Acadamy in the upper 90’s…that is exactly the reason for the “head shots” that were accepted in Arizona’s Law Enforcement P.O.S.T. instruction and yearly qualification courses. However, at that time, we were also taught to NOT include those exercises while teaching personal protection or ccw courses. Everything has obviously changed in the last 10 years and im trying to catch up as well.
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It’s all about the circumstances. On a basic level, it’s shoot to stop the threat. A firearm is NOT considered nonlethal. They don’t teach you to wound the attacker in the leg and see if they re-evaluate their life choices and break off the attack. After a shooting, there will be a lot of questions. If you (and your lawyer) can justify your actions, I don’t think the head-shot alone would be the deciding factor. I’m not a lawyer, but have seen enough to know that politics and prejudices are huge factors. Sadly, sometimes more than facts.
You are responsible for every bullet fired until it stops. The bigger “safer” easier to hit target would be my first choice. Depending on circumstances, that could be the head. If you miss and hit a kid waiting for the school bus…Be prepared for those questions.
If you put 3 in the chest of a raging methhead hopped up on bathsalts and he doesn’t even flinch, you are 1 well placed shot away from having your face chewed off. Where are you putting that one?
I could go on for a while… but circumstances, politics, prejudices, lawyer skills and a bunch of other things are all weighed into this equation. You need to justify every shot fired.
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Somewhere there is a thread on here showing how a head shot can get one in serious trouble even if fully justified.
The article, can’t find it now starts off with “Justified but Excessive Force”.
If anyone has a link to it let me know. It might even be good to join the two threads because it’s a real world example of just what we were discussing here.
is this what you’re looking for?
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That’s it Zee, TYD.
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