Texas-Book-Gun Law Armed And Educated - Flipbook - Page 423
are committed under circumstances where the actor should realize
that such acts create an unreasonable risk of causing harm to
innocent third parties that such third parties may subject the actor
to liability.” Helms v. Harris, 281 S.W.2d 770, 771 (Tex. Civ. App.
1955). Likewise, the Texas Penal Code also provides in Sections
9.05 and 9.06 that a person cannot use justification as a defense
where they injure a third party by their reckless acts. This means
that even if you defend yourself, others, or property, but you create
an unreasonable risk to others in doing so, you can be liable if one
of those third parties is injured.
EXAMPLE:
Heather shoots at Calvin as he unlawfully breaks into Heather’s
occupied home at night. She fires a single shot with her .22
that narrowly misses Calvin but hits a man washing his car
down the street.
Heather is probably not liable to the man down the street, because
her conduct did not unreasonably place third parties at risk.
EXAMPLE:
Rick shoots at Calvin as he unlawfully breaks into Rick’s occupied
home at night. Rick fires 30 shots with his fully-automatic M-16,
missing with the initial burst. Calvin turns and runs. Rick continues
to fire haphazardly at Calvin as he runs down the street. One shot
hits a man washing his car four houses away.
Rick could very likely be liable to the man washing his car because
he unreasonably placed third parties at risk by recklessly firing a
fully automatic weapon down a neighborhood street.
412 | CHAPTER SIXTEEN
