TexasCHLforum.com

seamusTX wrote:Yes. This change took effect September 1, 2007.

Texans were never sued in justified self defense cases before that. Such suits are extremely rare in any state.

- Jim

dewayneward wrote:The wording has me confused. Are you saying that if I used justified deadly force against a bad guy that followed Chap 9 of the penal code after September 1, 2007, the family could NOT sue me?

austin-tatious wrote:I checked the ... (INSTRUCTOR'S PAMPHLET) for 2007 -2008 and the ... pamphlet that we CHL-ers get from the state. The Instructor's Pamphlet does NOT have the paragraph CPRC 83.001. ClVlL IMMUNITY quoted above, but the pamphlet they hand out to everyone else does. What's with that?

dewayneward wrote:The wording has me confused. Are you saying that if I used justified deadly force against a bad guy that followed Chap 9 of the penal code after September 1, 2007, the family could NOT sue me?

I have read a number of cases (like the pizza delivery guy one) where the family of the misguided kid sued the good guy.

dewayneward wrote:I live in a country where someone thinks "that mean ole guy "murdered" my <insert relative name here> and I think I have been wronged so I will sue him".

The Salt Lake Tribune
Published Tuesday, August 05, 2008
Man's family angered by self-defense ruling

Lindsay Whitehurst
The family of Mike J. Mays, who was slain by an off-duty security guard, said they are "very upset" by Salt Lake County prosecutors' decision not to press charges. "I totally think it was unjustifiable . . . at least they could have written him a ticket, something," said Mays' first wife, Holly Mays, 49. "I think now people think you can basically open fire in a residential area and say, 'I did it in self-defense.' "

Prosectors last week concluded that George Harrison, 59, shot Mays in self-defense in a July 9 confrontation between the two men that started when Mays was across the street from Mama's Southern Plantation restaurant, 1394 S. West Temple, according to a news release from the prosecutor's office.
Mays began shouting threats at Harrison, claiming, "You don't know who I am," and "I'm going to [expletive] you up."
When he was two or three feet from Harrison, Mays lifted his shirt and reached for his waistband.
Fearing Mays was reaching for a gun, Harrison drew his own .38 Special revolver and shot the other man once in the torso, killing him, according to prosecutors.
Mays was later found to be unarmed.
For Mays' son, the decision not to charge Harrison is heart-rending, especially because Harrison apparently gave no verbal warning.
"Man, when you kill someone you've got to pay the price . . . you've got to take responsibility," Mike Workman, 24, said. "[Harrison] needs to know [Mays] had loved ones."
Workman said the family is considering a civil lawsuit.
Salt Lake County District Attorney's Office spokeswoman Alicia Cook said Monday the facts of the case led prosecutors to believe a reasonable person would have had a reasonable belief, as Harrison did, that his or her life was in danger.
Cook added that prosecutors could not charge Harrison with a lesser crime because the self-defense statute doesn't allow for one when lethal force is used.
"With self-defense you are justified in using the force or you are not," Cook said.
Prosecutors said Harrison obtained a concealed-weapons permit for his gun in Indiana, and that Utah recognizes weapons permits issued in other states.
Attempts to contact Harrison for comment were unsuccessful.

The Salt Lake Tribune
Published Thursday, December 18, 2008
Daughter files civil suit in father's shooting death
No charges » Authorities called it self-defense.

Jason Bergreen
The daughter of a man gunned down last summer outside a Salt Lake City restaurant filed a civil lawsuit Thursday claiming the shooter and the restaurant near where her father died were negligent.
The suit filed by Brooke Mays demands $20,000 and asks for funeral expenses and general damages after her father, Michael Mays, was killed by George R. Harrison in July outside Mama's Southern Plantation, 1394 S. West Temple.
Michael Mays and Harrison, who was a security guard at the restaurant, got into an argument near the diner's patio area on July 9. While the two were yelling, Mays dropped his backpack, lifted his shirt and began moving his left hand toward his waist band, police said. Harrison, who was carrying a concealed .38 special revolver, drew his gun and shot Mays once in the chest. The shooting was witnessed by several people and later determined by authorities to be a case of self-defense. The Salt Lake County District Attorney's Office did not file charges against Harrison.
Mays' daughter claims in her lawsuit that Harrison discharged his weapon without cause, did not conduct himself safely while working and because of his "wrongful acts, omissions, negligence and recklessness, Michael J. Mays was killed."
Mama's Southern Plantation is also liable, the suit claims, because Harrison was an employee of the restaurant.
The suit requests a trial to determine additional damages.

seamusTX wrote:

dewayneward wrote:I live in a country where someone thinks "that mean ole guy "murdered" my <insert relative name here> and I think I have been wronged so I will sue him".

Do you know of a better country in this respect?

In nearly every other country, if you kill an attacker, you will be prosecuted for homicide. In most cases you will not have the right to an open trial before a jury or to confront your accuser.

- Jim

dewayneward wrote:The point of my comment was that there are people out there think they are justified in sueing you because you stopped their relative from murdering you or something like that.