Spooky noises and things that go bump in the night

Jim Choate ravage at ssz.com
Fri Jan 11 18:31:33 PST 2002



IANAL...

On Fri, 11 Jan 2002, david wrote:

> I don't need or want to talk to your attorney.  But you should at least read 
> and try to understand the statutes that you link to and make reference to.  

I do, I also understand the sorts of questions that a DA will ask when
they decide what charges to press. And a simple broad daylight B&E will
not pass muster for deadly force in Texas. A simple trespass won't
qualify. You simply can't go around shooting people you lure onto your
property in Texas.

> The big fucking deal is I have attended four of DPS's intructor classes where 
> their attorneys and instructors explain the use of force laws to us in the 
> manner they want them passed on to the public.  I do not pass on uninformed 
> opinions on topics I am not qualified to comment on.

And I am absolutely certain they did NOT tell you or anyone else that by
simply finding a person in your home you have license to shoot on site.
That simply isn't the case in this state.

The 'at night' stipulation to escalated use of force is with respect to
the 'identify & recover' clause(s). Unless you can demonstrate some clear
threat at the time of the shooting, it being nite is about your only hope
to escape some sort of charge (there's that 'other means' with respect to 
causing the crime to stop as well). DA's know there are a passle of
crazies out there with itchy fingers. As I understand it, at least urban
legend wise, Texas is the 7'th largest armed population in the world...;)

This is from discussion with APD on three seperate 1st person instances
and several discussions with a lawyer several years ago (I had this crazy
idea of a IR directed gun mount). I also know of a couple of cases in the
last few years where the 'at night' stipulation was critical. There was 10
or so years ago where a girl shot a peeping tom just after dusk. She saw
him looking through the window. Got her gun and went outside and shot him.
The major issue with the grand jury refusing to indite had to do with it
being at nite.

It's also worth noting that Texas does not consider breaking into a car
burglary.


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