Texas-Book-Gun Law Armed And Educated - Flipbook - Page 155
Under this standard, the law does not focus on whether you
subjectively (or personally) believed force was reasonable, but
whether a reasonable person would have considered it reasonable,
an objective standard. If the legal system (again, this could
ultimately be a jury) determines that a reasonable person would
have believed that force was immediately necessary in response to
another person unlawfully using force against you, then you will be
found legally justified in using force.
Keep in mind, however, that judges, juries, and prosecutors are
simply human beings, and people can have vastly different ideas of
how a reasonable person should act under any given circumstances.
This is particularly true if asked to decide whether force or deadly
force was immediately necessary or not.
B. What does “immediately necessary” mean under the law?
When does someone have a reasonable belief that force is
immediately necessary? In Texas, it ultimately may be a jury that
is tasked with determining whether someone had a reasonable
belief that an action was immediately necessary or not. With that
said, courts have held that “immediately necessary” means when
a person took his action, he had to take that action right then,
right there, and without delay, otherwise he may have suffered
harm or injury. See McGarity v. State, 5 S.W.3d 223 (Tex. App.—
San Antonio, 1999, no pet.). Clearly, “immediately necessary”
attempts to convey a sense of urgency for the use of force, but
again, it usually falls back to the jury to decide if this standard
was met in a particular case.
C. Legal presumptions: stop legal second-guessing
Under certain circumstances, a person’s belief in the immediate
necessity of force or deadly force will be presumed reasonable
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