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Kevinf2349 wrote:Sometimes it seems like police officers live totally outside of the law they are supposed to uphold.

Only a few do this. Most of us try to obey the law and be fair about things. I used to like it that a lot of Texas laws were written expecting the cop to use common sense when enforcing them. I have come to really regret it as so many cops take advantage of it. I know it is a minority and the good cops are just not newsworthy (until they get shot), but it irritates me that even a few cops are like that.

The law on unlawfully carrying makes no mention of openly carrying or concealed. The law exempting police officers from unlawfully carrying makes no mention of on or off duty status. Thus, there is no legal reason he could not have walked in with the gun on his hip if he wanted to. This also means that his status as a defendant has no legal bearing on his carrying the pistol.

But then you ask a second question about it being right or wrong. This is not necessarily related to the law at all. If he was exposing the gun to deliberately intimidate the plaintiffs, the judge should have taken immediate action. This could be interpreted as a felony (retaliation). It certainly tends to corrupt the justice system further than it is already. Even if the judge did not notice it, the people involved should be filing a complaint with the Houston Police Department over the intimidation. I am sure they have some rules about things of that nature, and may even have rules about concealing off duty weapons.

But, and this is very important, there is also the possibility that the gun was not deliberately exposed. It is hard to break some habits, and we normally do not think of them at all. Crossing you legs is one of those habits. And, if an officer crosses his legs without thinking, it is certainly possible for the pants leg to ride up and expose the pistol without his meaning to or even knowing about it. And some people are intimidated by the mere sight of a pistol, even when the owner does not know it is showing or mean to intimidate anyone. Given the circumstances of a court case, I think it is just as likely that the plaintiffs were intimidated without the officer's knowledge as it is that he meant to intimidate them.

Only the officer and the people in the room at the time will know exactly what went down and how. Only the officer will know his actual intent. Let your friend know that it is possible to file the complaint with HPD and see it investigated. That is about all I can see as a reasonable way to handle it without having been there at the time.