Texas Self Defense Laws

Texas self-defense laws are available in many assault cases. A person arrested on assault charges know that there are serious ramifications. Any crime of violence can affect a person’s future. Employers will seldom hire a person who has an assault conviction on their record.

Texas has self defense laws in place which often apply when criminal assault charges have been filed. Under Texas law a person can use force against another person if they have a reasonable belief that force is immediately necessary to protect himself from another person’s use or attempted use of unlawful force.

One key element to self-defense is “reasonable belief“. Under Texas self-defense law a reasonable belief is the type of belief a reasonable prudent person in the defendant’s position would feel it was necessary to use physical force. This means the fact finder in a case, the jury or judge, must review the evidence from the defendant’s point of view at the time of the assault.

If a person is charged with assault in Texas, his or her criminal lawyer must carefully review the surrounding facts to determine if the laws of self-defense apply to the client’s specific fact situation. Self-defense is a topic that almost all jurors accept as being a valid defense. Many jurors have had to defend themselves sometime in the past. If jurors believe the defendant acted reasonably when he used force, then they are likely to find the defendant not guilty.