As chabouk mentions, one of the early CHL test cases involved a CHL holder who got in a fender bender in his company vehicle with another company vehicle and the other driver came up and started wailing on him with his fists. The CHL holder grabbed a gun from his seat and shot/killed the guy. He was no-billed or acquitted. I am not sure.chabouk wrote:Here's where I think the disconnect falls in this thread:
Some folks are focusing on a single punch or single kick, either out of the blue or after multiple credible threats.
I've never once heard of an attacker threatening, "I'm going to punch you exactly one time! And them I'm going to turn and walk away!"
The logical and legal presumption is that if someone is willing to walk up and punch/kick me, he is willing to do so more than once, and that the victim may assume the attacker doesn't intend to stop.
Not to mention, any blows to the head are potentially "deadly force". Many people have been killed by a single blow to the head.
The first Texas CHL to use deadly force was Gordon Hale. He shot and killed Kenny Tavai, who punched him in the head. Hale was cleared by the grand jury.
That's a pretty good precedent.
The crux of the case was the he had the right to use deadly force to defend himself against threat of death or serious bodily injury. His lawyer successfully argued that fists can cause serious bodily injury and were a credible threat that allowed use of deadly force in self defense.
Every class or instructor I have come across pretty much said the same thing.