What happens when you shoot someone?

[ZMoore0595]

My LTC status changed to "mailed" today, so I'm pretty stoked about receiving that in the next couple days. However, something that's stayed on my mind was the whole "you need pre-paid legal services" bit that my instructor tried to sell me on. I know there are threads discussing it and I don't think I want to go that route, but I do have some questions about the facts they presented.

The dude said that if you shoot someone, no matter what the circumstances are, you are going to be arrested and booked and your case will go before the grand jury. Even if it's open and shut, the grand jury has to rule, and you'll still end up spending many thousands of dollars to defend yourself through that process. Is this really true, or is there grey area depending on the circumstances?

Something else he said is that there is the potential to be sued for medical bills and other crap; I thought we were somewhat protected from that here in Texas. Is that truly something to be concerned with?

Does Renter's Insurance tend to cover shootings? Would it be wise to bump up the medical coverage on my renter's policy from $5,000 to something a little more meaningful if there's a small chance I might one day have to shoot an intruder?

I have enough savings not to have to worry about sudden expenses like those, so in my case, I don't think the expense of a pre-paid legal service is justified by the extremely small risk that I would ever actually have to shoot somebody. Still, I'd like to understand a little more about what happens if it ever actually does come to that.

Thanks for having a great forum!

Texas fortunately has "Stand your Ground Laws" and if it's a good shoot you can't be sued civilly due to said laws. Additionally if you're involved in a good shoot, you're not going to be arrested if the evidence is clear that you were acting in defense of yourself or others. The notion that you're going to jail for something that's legal with clear evidence is ludicrous and simply a way to make money. Now with that said, I'd still invest in some type of legal coverage myself because like the reason we have firearms and LTCs it's better to have it and not need it than to need it and to have it. I am not a lawyer nor LEO (yet), but I do work as a Corrections Officer in a police department in Harris County and have never seen someone arrested on a good shoot nor have I read a report of a good shoot that someone was arrested on.

Just my two cents hope it helps

P.S. I do have an Associates in Criminal Justice, so I also have a base line knowledge of the laws.

[Steven6702]

Haha, a lot of this was helpful, thank you. I am going to look into Charles Cotton's seminars, that sounds like a way better use of money than PPLS.

[Keith B]

Haha, a lot of this was helpful, thank you. I am going to look into Charles Cotton's seminars, that sounds like a way better use of money than PPLS.

Charles' seminars or classes are top notch and will provide you a lot of valuable info. As for PPLS, it's a personal decision, but you need to make sure you totally understand what the service provides and how they will support you if you need to use it.

[The Annoyed Man]

I'll second that. I've twice sat through Charles' seminar on use of force and use of deadly force in Texas, and it was worth every minute spent, and then some.

[twomillenium]

[quote=

Texas fortunately has "Stand your Ground Laws" and if it's a good shoot you can't be sued civilly due to said laws. Additionally if you're involved in a good shoot, you're not going to be arrested if the evidence is clear that you were acting in defense of yourself or others. The notion that you're going to jail for something that's legal with clear evidence is ludicrous and simply a way to make money. Now with that said, I'd still invest in some type of legal coverage myself because like the reason we have firearms and LTCs it's better to have it and not need it than to need it and to have it. I am not a lawyer nor LEO (yet), but I do work as a Corrections Officer in a police department in Harris County and have never seen someone arrested on a good shoot nor have I read a report of a good shoot that someone was arrested on.

Just my two cents hope it helps

P.S. I do have an Associates in Criminal Justice, so I also have a base line knowledge of the laws.[/quote]

I don't know of any law that prevents another from being sued. A civil law suit is much different on weight of liability, whereas the parties must only tilt the reason just slightly.

P.S. I watched Judge Judy more years than it takes to get a degree.

[ZMoore0595]

[quote=

Texas fortunately has "Stand your Ground Laws" and if it's a good shoot you can't be sued civilly due to said laws. Additionally if you're involved in a good shoot, you're not going to be arrested if the evidence is clear that you were acting in defense of yourself or others. The notion that you're going to jail for something that's legal with clear evidence is ludicrous and simply a way to make money. Now with that said, I'd still invest in some type of legal coverage myself because like the reason we have firearms and LTCs it's better to have it and not need it than to need it and to have it. I am not a lawyer nor LEO (yet), but I do work as a Corrections Officer in a police department in Harris County and have never seen someone arrested on a good shoot nor have I read a report of a good shoot that someone was arrested on.

Just my two cents hope it helps

P.S. I do have an Associates in Criminal Justice, so I also have a base line knowledge of the laws.

I don't know of any law that prevents another from being sued. A civil law suit is much different on weight of liability, whereas the parties must only tilt the reason just slightly.

P.S. I watched Judge Judy more years than it takes to get a degree.[/quote]

Allow me to correct myself, the statue I'm speaking about provides you civil immunity if you're involved in a good shoot. They can still file a civil suit, but the law removes civil liability i.e. financial compensation. Sorry about that and thanks for correcting me sometimes I type faster than I think lol. Here's the statue I was speaking about though.

CIVIL PRACTICE AND REMEDIES CODE

TITLE 4. LIABILITY IN TORT

CHAPTER 83. USE OF FORCE OR DEADLY FORCE

Sec. 83.001. CIVIL IMMUNITY. A defendant who uses force or deadly force that is justified under Chapter 9, Penal Code, is immune from civil liability for personal injury or death that results from the defendant's use of force or deadly force, as applicable.

Added by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 235, Sec. 2, eff. Sept. 1, 1995.
Amended by:
Acts 2007, 80th Leg., R.S., Ch. 1 (S.B. 378), Sec. 4, eff. September 1, 2007.

[Steven6702]

Does Charles still do the deadly force seminars? I have been Googling around and can't find any, and the site I found for his practice seems to indicate that he's no longer practicing. Does anyone have further info? If not, are there other deadly force seminars you'd recommend?