No need for an emergency exception. One already exists: necessity defenseHoodasnacks wrote:I would also think that a good lawyer could find/craft an "emergency" exception to the law. If a LEO gets a waiver on 4th amendment requirements to protect an individual, I think you could find an exception to 30.06.Charles L. Cotton wrote:This attorney agrees with both of your points. I'll also add that I cannot imagine any LEO filing trespass charges under the OP's hypothetical, nor can I imagine a DA accepting charges.mr1337 wrote:In my opinion, no jury in Texas is going to convict you for walking past a 30.06 sign to save someone's life who is under active attack. You should be covered under a defense of necessity.
Keep in mind that I'm not a lawyer, but I just don't see it happening.
Chas.
Code: Select all
Sec. 9.22. NECESSITY. Conduct is justified if:
(1) the actor reasonably believes the conduct is immediately necessary to avoid imminent harm;
(2) the desirability and urgency of avoiding the harm clearly outweigh, according to ordinary standards of reasonableness, the harm sought to be prevented by the law proscribing the conduct; and
(3) a legislative purpose to exclude the justification claimed for the conduct does not otherwise plainly appear.9.22(1) would be true if you believed you needed to step in to prevent/avoid/stop immediate harm.
9.22(2) MAY be true depending on the State's standards of the harm outweighing the harm avoided. I know some states believe that taking a life in order to save a life (1 for 1 trade) is not outweighing. However, one of the operative phrases here is "according to ordinary standards of reasonableness" and I think it would be reasonable to prevent (or stop) a violent criminal from attacking an innocent person. However, as I said before, I don't think any jury is going to convict you for saving an innocent life from being taken by a violent criminal. That's if it even gets that far. You would still need the DA to file charges, and possibly a grand jury to accept those charges. There's a lot of "outs" for lawful defense of yourself and others. Each stage of the process grants more and more chance that you won't get convicted.
Now if this was California, New York, or New Jersey, forget it. Luckily, Texas is not one of those places.