Penal Code Help Please

[Charles L. Cotton]

Being sued in civil court for a "righteous" shooting was rare in Texas prior to passage of our version of the "Castle Doctrine" bill, and it is even more rare now. LEO's face a different situation since they can be sued under federal law (§1983).

Initially, there was much confusion about the civil liability provisions of the SB378. Many people thought someone justifiably using deadly force couldn't be sued, but such a law would violate the Texas Constitution. SB378 granted immunity from civil liability to anyone who justifiably uses deadly force under Chp. 9 of the Texas Penal Code. By referencing Chp. 9 of the Penal Code in the Civil Practices & Remedies Code, it makes a grand jury "no bill" strong evidence in a civil court and should support a defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment (i.e. asking the court to dismiss the case because Plaintiff can't win). Normally, an acquittal in criminal court doesn't prevent a civil suit because the burden of proof in civil courts is easier to meet than in criminal court. However, by direct reference to Chp. 9, results from criminal court or a grand jury are relevant. (An acquittal should be a hands-down winner with an honest judge.)

I'm not saying you can't be sued, or that you won't spend some money defending the case. I am saying that you will very likely win early in the case by the court granting a summary judgement in your favor and awarding all defense costs against the plaintiff. Also, contrary to the belief held by many, plaintiff lawyers aren't interested in putting time and money into a case they know they can't win and have no chance of settling prior to trial. The only real exceptions deal with politically motivated suits and you don't often see those filed against private citizens based upon "righteous" shootings.

Chas.

[Medic218]

lots of good info there Mr. Cotton, thats the kind of explanation I was looking for to help me understand.

[tbrown]

Civil liability will always exist. Don't let these laws make you too warm and fuzzy.

One of the best defenses to those kind of lawsuits is empty pockets. Most lawyers who take a case like that are working on contingency and if there's no assets to attach in a judgement, their chance of a payday goes way down, and so does their enthusiasm for taking those kind of cases. (I bet you never thought of the upside to the Obama economy.)

Factor in the civil immunity from the Castle Law and the risk of me being sued for shooting a violent criminal is about the same as drowning in a flash flood in Texas this year.