Texas-Book-Gun Law Armed And Educated - Flipbook - Page 182
that his conduct was immediately necessary…” Morales v. State, 357
S.W.3d 1, 5 (Tex. Crim. App. 2011). Thus, the existence of no duty to
retreat is also a powerful legal tool for any defendant.
The provisions establishing no duty to retreat are located in the selfdefense statutes of Sections 9.31(e) and (f), and Section 9.32(c) and (d).
These provisions will act to limit a prosecutor from arguing in court
that a person’s use of force or deadly force was not really immediately
necessary because the person could have or should have first retreated.
In order to receive the “No Duty to Retreat” protection under these
statutes, first, a person must satisfy all the conditions in the Penal Code:
1) h e or she has a legal right to be at the location where force or deadly
force was used;
2) h e or she did not provoke the person against whom force or deadly
force was used; and
3) h e or she is not engaged in criminal activity at the time force or
deadly force was used.
All three of these conditions must be satisfied in order for the “No Duty
to Retreat” provisions to apply. Further, if a person does not qualify for
“No Duty to Retreat” provisions, it does not mean that the person’s use
of force or deadly force was not legally justified. It simply means that
a jury will evaluate whether the person’s failure to retreat when they
used force or deadly force was reasonable. If a person cannot satisfy all
three requirements, the prosecutor will be free to argue that because
the accused could have but did not retreat, the accused’s belief that
the use of force or deadly force was immediately necessary was not
reasonable.
When Can I Legally Use My Gun: Part II | 171
