I once had the opportunity to run students through a variety of scenarios on a sophisticated use of force training simulator or FTS over a period of months. The FTS had thirty or so scenarios that replicated events a private citizen might face as they went about their daily business. When conducting use of force training simulations, each student received a scene-setting prebrief and then ran through the scenario individually. Instructors noted the student’s actions for an after-scenario individual debriefings.
I noted very common issue among new students – they often tried to engage the criminal verbally when it was unnecessary, they waited too long draw their defensive firearm, or they waited to engage the threat until the threat actually pointed a firearm at them. In general, new students did not know the Texas use of force law and therefore did not understand when they could/should engage a deadly threat or they dithered due to a lack of confidence in their ability.
Under Texas law we can use deadly force when necessary to protect ourselves or an innocent third person from the imminent use or attempted use of unlawful deadly force or to prevent another's imminent commission of aggravated kidnapping, murder, sexual assault, aggravated sexual assault, robbery, or aggravated robbery. (see below).
In other words, once it is clear that an assailant is in the process of immediately attempting to use or is using deadly force, or is committing one of these enumerated crimes, an innocent defender can justifiably use lawful force or deadly force. The defender does not need to wait until a firearm is pointed at them to act nor are they legally bound to give warning. The old saying comes to mind: “If you wait to see the muzzle, you will likely see what comes out of it.”
Click on the picture above to see a video of me completing a blind run of one of the FTS scenarios. The lead-up to the scenario was that you and a partner (spouse, friend, child, etc.) pull up to an automated teller machine and your partner exits your vehicle to withdraw money. A violent criminal steps up behind your partner and threatens them with a pistol while robbing them. I always completed each FTS scenario “blind” and on video before I used them to train students. After each student completed the scenario, I then demonstrated my solution to the problem.
In the FTS scenario shown, every new student attempted to verbally engage and/or warn the criminal threatening their partner. During the scenario, if the criminal became aware of the defender (via the warning or from the student delaying their response), he used the partner as a hostage while moving to a vehicle and kidnapped the partner in response. My solution? Quickly draw my concealed pistol, take careful aim, and shoot the criminal threatening unlawful deadly force in the head—no hesitation, no warning.
Was my solution legally justified? Absolutely. The criminal was using unlawful deadly force to threaten an innocent third person. If I was in that person’s shoes, I would have been justified in using lawful deadly force to defend myself and my intervention was immediately necessary to protect that third person (my partner). Further, the criminal was in the process of committing an aggravated robbery so my use of lawful deadly force was justified under Texas Penal Code, Secs. 9.32. and 9.33.
If you enjoy reading these please subscribe. The link is on the upper right
side of the page. All that will happen is that you will receive an e-mail when
I post an article. Your information will never be distributed.
Texas Penal Code Sec. 9.32. DEADLY FORCE IN DEFENSE OF PERSON. (a) A person is justified in using deadly force against another:
(1) if the actor would be justified in using force against the other under Section 9.31(non-deadly force); and
(2) when and to the degree the actor reasonably believes the deadly force is immediately necessary:
(A) to protect the actor against the other's use or attempted use of unlawful deadly force; or
(B) to prevent the other's imminent commission of aggravated kidnapping, murder, sexual assault, aggravated sexual assault, robbery, or aggravated robbery.
Protecting a Third Person:
Sec. 9.33. DEFENSE OF THIRD PERSON. A person is justified in using force or deadly force against another to protect a third person if:
(1) Under the circumstances as the actor reasonably believes them to be, the actor would be justified under Section 9.31 or 9.32 in using force or deadly force to protect himself against the unlawful force or unlawful deadly force he reasonably believes to be threatening the third person he seeks to protect; and
(2) the actor reasonably believes that his intervention is immediately necessary to protect the third person.
No comments:
Post a Comment