From memory, I seem to recall that, as someone above said, anybody can sue anybody (except maybe the fedgovt) any time. However, once a suit has been filed, any judge worth his salt who follows the law will dismiss the suit because of your protections against civil liability under 83.001.Mike S wrote: ↑Thu Jul 05, 2018 12:05 amYes sir, you 'could' be sued in civil court. What the above quoted excerpt from the Texas civil code says is that if justified under Chapter 9 of the criminal code (the self defense statutes), that you have no civil liability (you owe nothing to the plantif).OneGun wrote: ↑Wed Jul 04, 2018 10:29 pmSee post #2
Text is:
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.
That said, I can see the possibility of a judge with an axe to grind against firearms carry who might allow the suit to proceed, in which case you might still be found civilly negligent, and have to proceed to appeal to get the courts to accurately apply the law. And even if you are found to not have been civilly negligent, you’ll still have shelled out a fair amount of your net worth to defend yourself.
EITHER way, it’s going to cost you something for the simple reason that you’ll need to hire an attorney, regardless of your 83.001 protections; and that’s going to cost you. In the end, that may prove to be enough satisfaction for the plaintiffs.... even in that even if they don’t win, you still get dinged a large amount of money for having had the temerity to defend yourself against the person they raised up into a criminal. I’m not enough of a lawyer (I am not a lawyer at all
) to know whether or not you would be able to invoke the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code 42.004 to recover your legal costs. Maybe one of our attorneys here to expand on that?