District Attorney Bryant Dunaway said it will be important residents understand the legal requirements for the use of deadly force as a new law takes effect July 1.
Public Chapter 1100 addresses the use of force to protect real or personal property. Dunaway said he issued a formal clarification because several media reports have inaccurately described the law as allowing deadly force to be used simply to defend property. Dunaway said the use of deadly force still requires a threat to human safety.
“There still have to be a a human person that that’s life is in danger or in danger of serious bodily injury for deadly force to be justified,” Dunaway said.
Dunaway said the core requirements for justifying deadly force remain largely unchanged from existing statutes despite the new wording in the Public Chapter. Dunaway said the clarification is intended to prevent citizens from facing arrest or prosecution for using a level of force that exceeds what is legally permitted.
“The public needs to be educated about the effect of the law because, you know, we want to prevent people from using a level of force that is not lawful and I don’t want anybody to get in trouble or get arrested or potentially prosecuted for using a level of force that is over and above what is lawfully allowed in certain circumstances,” Dunaway said.
Dunaway said the law does not authorize deadly force in any circumstance where a person is not at risk of grave sexual abuse, serious bodily injury, or death.
“In this state, if a person’s life is in danger or they’re in risk of serious bodily injury, they absolutely can utilize deadly force, but if somebody’s just stealing from you then and there’s no risk of death or serious bodily injury to a person, then deadly force would not be allowable under the law even the new law,” Dunaway said.
Dunaway said he has received numerous calls from concerned citizens in the district asking for a better understanding of how the law will function. Dunaway said the primary goal of his outreach is to ensure the public can continue to operate within the bounds of the law.
“It boils down to really the same thing,” Dunaway said. “That has been the law for some time, the new Public Chapter really lands in the same place, but the way it’s worded is confusing to your average reader and so I felt like putting out the clarification was necessary.”
