Texas-Book-Gun Law Armed And Educated - Flipbook - Page 217
vandalism, or anything else that diminishes a person’s right to their
property. Whether particular conduct rises to interference with
property is an issue that a jury decides.
G. Is there a statutory minimum value of property before force
may be legally used to protect it?
No. There exists no statutory minimum value for property before
force may be used to protect it. Texas Penal Code Sections 9.41 and
9.42 do not specify that property a person seeks to protect must be
of a certain, minimum dollar value in order for a person to legally
protect it. Having said that, what the Texas Penal Code does specify
is that a person must have a reasonable belief that the use of force
or deadly force is immediately necessary to protect that property
before a person would be justified in using force or deadly force.
Realistically, even though a person may be in the process of taking
tangible, movable property (as specified in Section 9.41), some
property may be of so little value that the use of force or deadly
force to protect or recover it would not be deemed reasonable by
a jury.
EXAMPLE:
One day at work, Fred walks into Ricky’s office and takes a red
stapler off of Ricky’s desk and walks away. Ricky, upset at having
his favorite stapler pilfered from his desk, jumps up, chases Fred
down, shoves him to the ground, and starts beating on Fred to
recover his property. On his way to chase Fred, Ricky also passes
the office supply closet where black staplers are available for
anyone to take and use.
206 | CHAPTER TEN
