TexasCHLforum.com

ELB wrote: ↑Thu Jul 05, 2018 9:22 am

OneGun wrote: ↑Sun Jun 24, 2018 5:03 pm Not all states have civil immunity for self-defense or defense of others.

RISING SUN, Ind. — A Good Samaritan who feared for a police officer’s life when she shot and killed his attacker is now being sued by the deceased’s family.

In February 2017, an off-duty conservation officer responded to a call of a suspicious vehicle and encountered 25-year-old Justin Holland, according to Cincinnati.com. Holland then attacked the officer, overpowering him as bystander Kystie Jaehnen rushed to the LEO’s aid.

Jaehnen, who said she feared for the officer’s life, shot Holland in the shoulder. Holland later died from his injuries. Meth, benzodiazepines, marijuana, methadone, and dextromethorphan were later found in his system. Jaehnen was not charged in the shooting.

Holland’s family is now suing Jaehnen, the officer, and the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, claiming that Jaehnen used unjustified deadly force in the shooting.

See:
https://www.policeone.com/legal/articl ... -lawsuit/

Indiana has civil immunity for self-defense, and it is not all that different than Texas. "Civil immunity" is probably a misnomer, and it does not mean you cannot be sued, and the fact that the DA does not prosecute you also does not mean that you cannot be sued. When a civil action is taken against you, under both Texas and Indiana law if you can show in the civil court that your actions were justified by self-defense, then the judge can terminate the suit. The law cannot be written so as to preclude a lawsuit altogether, as that would violate a citizen's right to take complaints to court.

Civil suits against legitimate self-defenders in Texas are apparently so rare that we have to go to Indiana (where they are also quite rare) just to find an example.

ETA:
Here's the thread on the Indiana case: viewtopic.php?f=136&t=92239&p=1198892&h ... t#p1198892
Also, this is Indiana's law on civil immunity:
IC 35-41-3-2:

"No person in this state shall be placed in legal jeopardy of any kind whatsoever for protecting the person or a third person by reasonable means necessary."

But the defender may still have to go to civil court to prove that what he did was "reasonable".

In the Indiana case cited above I believe the real target is not the civilian woman, but the much deeper pockets of the Indiana Department of Resources.

carlson1 wrote: ↑Wed Jul 04, 2018 9:51 pm Can you be sued in Texas after a shooting has been ruled justified?

Sec. 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.

RISING SUN, Ind. — A Good Samaritan who feared for a police officer’s life when she shot and killed his attacker is now being sued by the deceased’s family.

In February 2017, an off-duty conservation officer responded to a call of a suspicious vehicle and encountered 25-year-old Justin Holland, according to Cincinnati.com. Holland then attacked the officer, overpowering him as bystander Kystie Jaehnen rushed to the LEO’s aid.

Jaehnen, who said she feared for the officer’s life, shot Holland in the shoulder. Holland later died from his injuries. Meth, benzodiazepines, marijuana, methadone, and dextromethorphan were later found in his system. Jaehnen was not charged in the shooting.

Holland’s family is now suing Jaehnen, the officer, and the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, claiming that Jaehnen used unjustified deadly force in the shooting.