Texas-Book-Gun Law Armed And Educated - Flipbook - Page 419
a civil suit may cause an innocent defendant. Texas courts have
ruled that immunity from suit would be a violation of the “Open
Courts Doctrine” of Article 1, § 13 of the Texas Constitution. A
Texas intermediate appellate court ruled in In re Smith that Section
83.001 does not mean immunity from suit; it means immunity from
damages if the defense is proven during the litigation of the case. In
re Smith, 262 S.W.3d 463 (Tex. App.—Beaumont 2008).
Also, note the language in Section 83.001 is “liability for personal
injury or death.” While it has not yet been interpreted by the
appellate courts, this language likely means that property damage
is not covered. What could that mean?
EXAMPLE:
Brooke is the victim of a home invasion. She fires several shots
at the intruder. The intruder is hit and stopped. One shot,
however, misses the intruder and hits a propane tank at the
house across the street. The propane tank explodes and burns
down the neighbor’s home. Luckily, the neighbor was not home
at the time.
The resulting damage is neither personal injury nor death. It is
very unlikely that the immunity statute will provide Brooke with
any protection from a civil suit by the neighbor for the damages
to the house.
C. Justification
All of the justifications under Chapter 9 of the Texas Penal Code
can also be asserted as affirmative defenses in a civil action. This
means, for example, if you shoot someone in defense of yourself,
others, or your property and are sued as a result, you may assert
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