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An acquittal will trigger civil immunity, if the defendant's defense was "justification" pursuant to Chp. 9 of the penal code. If the defendant's defense was "I wasn't the guy who shot him," then he could still lose a civil suit if the civil jury determined that the preponderance of the evidence shows he really did kill the deceased and wasn't "justified."

If a defendant was no-billed, then I think that is going to be sufficient evidence of justification, but this is a new law, so I am by no means certain. If the matter was never presented to a Grand Jury, then a prosecutor's written statement of "no intent to prosecute" may be enough also. If you don't have any of these, then the defendant is going to have to prove "justification" in the civil suit.

Again, anything other than an acquittal based upon a "justification" defense is unsettled, since there are no cases on it. The Joe Horn case may give us some indication.

Chas.

Nazrat wrote:I am a lawyer. The significant difficulty in comparing an acquittal in criminal court to a civil trial is the large difference in the burden of proof. Beyond a reasonable doubt is significantly harder to establish than preponderance of the evidence. The civil standard has been compared to having a 50.1% chance of being correct while the criminal standard has been compared to a 99.9% chance of being correct.

The criminal standard has no bearing on the civil standard. NONE. Nothing in a criminal trial prevents the filing of a civil suit. NOTHING.

Just FYI. There is also an old legal saying, "Intent follows the bullet."

Nothing in the criminal case prevents the filing of suit, but an acquittal will trigger the immunity from civil liability provisions of SB378. The defendant in the civil suit will win and they should get a summary judgment early in the process. That's if an plaintiff's attorney will take the case knowing they are going to lose. Also, it won't take an acquittal, or even a trial, to show that use of deadly force was justified under Chp. 9 of the penal code.

Chas.

srothstein wrote:

ELB wrote:I do not see a difference spelled out between personal injury or death to a BG, and personal injury or death to anyone else. It simply says if your use of force was justified, you are immune. Interesting. I hadn't realized that earlier.

Check Penal Code section 9.05

You are not protected by justification for reckless injury to another, even from a criminal case. Since Chapter 9 does not justify the behavior, this civil immunity doesn't help you either.

If you can't find justification for your action in Chp. 9, then Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code §83.001 does not apply. Thus, any injured or killed innocent 3rd parties can still sue. It doesn't mean they will win, but they can sue. Whether they prevail will be determined by whether or not your conduct was "negligent." Note, this is a lower standard than the "reckless" standard in the Penal Code.

Chas.

TDDude wrote:

Charles L. Cotton wrote:This language was in SB378 as filed, but unfortunately it was amended to get the bill out of committee. This is what was substituted and is now part of the Civil Practices & Remedies Code.

Chas.

Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code §83.001 wrote:CHAPTER 83. USE OF DEADLY FORCE IN DEFENSE OF PERSON

§ 83.001. CIVIL IMMUNITY. A defendant who uses force or
deadly force that is justified under Chapter 9, Penal Code, is
immune from civil liability for personal injury or death that
results from the defendant's use of force or deadly force, as
applicable.

I searched around and couldn't find the final bill that became law. All I could find was what I found. It looks like what they ended up with has more protection for the homeowner.

Where did you find that?

Go to the Texas Legislature's website and look at the different versions of the bill as it went through the process. The on that passed is the "enrolled" version.

Chas.

http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/BillLook ... Bill=SB378

This language was in SB378 as filed, but unfortunately it was amended to get the bill out of committee. This is what was substituted and is now part of the Civil Practices & Remedies Code.

Chas.

Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code §83.001 wrote:CHAPTER 83. USE OF DEADLY FORCE IN DEFENSE OF PERSON

§ 83.001. CIVIL IMMUNITY. A defendant who uses force or
deadly force that is justified under Chapter 9, Penal Code, is
immune from civil liability for personal injury or death that
results from the defendant's use of force or deadly force, as
applicable.