Texas-Book-Gun Law Armed And Educated - Flipbook - Page 214
Dist.] 1989, no pet.). Finally, a case in Houston cited the Black’s
Law Dictionary by stating that fresh pursuit is sometimes referred
to as “hot pursuit.” See Ordonez v. State, No. 14-10-00132-CR,
2010 WL 5395808 (Tex. App.—Houston [14th Dist.] 2010, no pet.)
(citing Black’s Law Dictionary, 667 (6th ed. 1990)). Ultimately, it
appears that courts view fresh pursuit to mean “immediate without
delay,” as even taking a few minutes to arm oneself is sufficient to
lose legal justification in using force to recover property.
In addition to attempting recovery immediately after or in fresh
pursuit after dispossession of property, a person must have a
reasonable belief that the other person wasn’t entitled to take it in
the first place. In other words, if an ordinary, reasonable person
would take the item back believing the thief had no right to it, then
a person may be justified in doing the same thing. Keep in mind,
though, this section only justifies the use of force, not deadly force.
C. No legal presumption of reasonableness when defending
property
Texas law provides no legal presumptions of reasonableness for uses
of force to protect property, whether it is preventing or terminating
a trespass or interference with or the recovery of property. Thus, the
jury will be the ultimate arbiter of the reasonableness of conduct.
The analysis so far leads us to the question: if force may legally be
used to prevent or terminate trespass or interference with property,
what constitutes a trespass or interference with property?
D. What is trespassing?
The commonly understood meaning of trespass is “an unlawful
interference with one’s person, property, or rights.” This definition
When Can I Legally Use My Gun: Part IV | 203
