Does Texas Have "Stand Your Ground" Laws?

“Stand your ground” laws allow individuals to use force, including deadly force, in self-defense without the duty to retreat when they reasonably believe they are facing a serious threat. If you’ve been involved in a violent confrontation in Texas, you may be wondering whether the state has such a law that could help in your defense.

What Are Stand Your Ground Laws?

“Stand your ground” laws are a recent development of the legal doctrine of self-defense. The law has long recognized that a person may use reasonable force to defend themselves or innocent third parties against an aggressive person’s imminent violent or criminal actions. Self-defense laws require people to use force proportional to the threat posed by the aggressor and reasonable to protect themselves or others. However, this means that when a person faces imminent deadly force, they may lawfully employ deadly force against an aggressor to protect themselves or an innocent third party.

Traditionally, the doctrine of self-defense has included the “duty to retreat.” Under this duty, a person faced with an imminent threat of injury or violence by another individual in public must attempt to retreat from the conflict if they can safely do so before employing force to protect themselves. However, the duty to retreat does not apply to situations involving confrontations with a criminal or violent aggressor in one’s home. The “castle doctrine” exception to the duty to retreat excuses a person from the obligation to retreat from an aggressor in one’s home under most circumstances. The castle doctrine also entitles a person to use force to defend their real property and the personal belongings inside their property from another individual’s imminent threat to trespass on the property or to interfere with the person’s ownership or use of their property.

Stand-your-ground laws eliminate the duty to retreat under the doctrine of self-defense. In states that have adopted stand-your-ground laws, a person may employ force to defend themselves or innocent third parties in any place they lawfully occupy without the obligation to attempt to retreat from a confrontation.

Does Texas Have a Stand Your Ground Law?

Texas has adopted the “stand your ground” doctrine into its self-defense statute. Thus, Texas has largely eliminated the duty to retreat from a violent confrontation before a person may lawfully employ force to defend themselves or innocent third parties.

What Is the Texas Stand Your Ground Law?

Under the stand-your-ground law in Texas, a person who has a right to occupy the location where they use force, who has not provoked the person against whom they use force, and who has not engaged in other criminal activity when using force does not have to retreat before using force as permitted under the self-defense statute. Furthermore, under the “stand your ground” law, a court or jury may not consider whether a person failed to retreat in determining whether that person reasonably believed in the necessity of force.

The stand-your-ground law also applies to the castle doctrine in Texas. Under the castle law in Texas, a person who owns or lawfully possesses real property or tangible movable property may use force against another individual if they reasonably believe that they must immediately use force to prevent or terminate the other individual’s trespass on or unlawful interference with the person’s property. Furthermore, a person dispossessed of their property may use force reasonably necessary to reenter their land or recover the property if they use such force immediately upon losing possession of their property or in pursuit of the individual who has dispossessed them of their property. That person must also reasonably believe the other individual had no claim or right to the property and took it through force, threat, or fraud.

Finally, Texas law allows a person to use deadly force to protect land or tangible, movable property if the self-defense law would justify the use of lethal force to protect themselves or a third party and if the person reasonably believes they must immediately use deadly force to prevent the other individual’s imminent commission of arson, burglary, robbery, aggravated robbery, nighttime theft, or criminal mischief at night or to prevent that individual from fleeing such an offense, and the person reasonably believes they cannot protect or recover their property through any other means or the use of less-than-deadly force would expose them to a substantial risk of severe injury or death.

When Does Self-Defense Not Apply?

Under Texas’s self-defense laws, a person may not claim self-defense, defense of others, or defense of property against charges of assault or homicide under circumstances such as:

• Verbal provocation: A person may not claim self-defense if the alleged aggressor merely verbally provoked the person into using force without some other circumstances that would cause the person to reasonably believe they faced an imminent threat of injury or violence.
• Resisting arrest or search: Individuals may not use force to resist an arrest or search by the police, even if officers do not have a lawful basis for the arrest or search. However, a person may use force to defend themselves from injury that could occur due to excessive or malicious force used by a police officer during an arrest or search.
• The aggressor retreats: When an aggressor disengages and retreats from a confrontation, a person must cease using force in self-defense, defense of others, or defense of property. The person may not pursue an aggressor to continue employing force except as permitted by law to recover property taken by the aggressor.
• Disproportionate force: Texas’s self-defense law does not protect a person’s use of disproportionate force to defend themselves, others, or property. The law requires a person acting in self-defense to use a level of force proportionate to the force employed by the aggressor and reasonable enough to stop the aggressor and prevent injury or loss of property.

Contact Broden & Mickelsen If You Are Facing Criminal Charges

If you’ve been charged with assault or another violent offense in Texas but were defending yourself against an aggressor, you need experienced legal counsel to help you build a case asserting your rights under Texas self-defense laws. Contact Broden & Mickelsen, LLP today for a confidential consultation with a criminal defense attorney to discuss your legal options for building a defense under the Texas “stand your ground” law.