Q: Can an armed commissioned security guard put his hands on you in Texas if he hasn't been threatened?
An armed security guard attempted to kick down my door at my apartment. A series of events had happened between me and my significant other, however it was not for the security guard to get involved in. He made inaccurate assumptions about what was happening and he continued to harass me at my door. At the appropriate time, I opened my door because he was still there and he pulled out his weapon, pointed it at me and said "boom" in order to scare me. He then proceeded to call me a sissy and accused me of a crime I did not commit. I was in fear of my life at that point. I closed the door, and the fire department had arrived 5 minutes later. I went down the stairs to talk to them and to possibly get medical help. The security guard would not allow me to talk to the fire department, he then attacked me and slammed me on the concrete. My elbows and legs were bloody and scraped up, and my head hit the ground. I defended myself throughout the altercation, however I did not threaten him.
A:
This question is marked as New Jersey and Texas. It is also marked as Personal Injury and Criminal. The following answer is only applicable to criminal law in Texas:
Texas has very loose use of force rules, so whether his actions were legal depends on what you did and what the security guard reasonably believes you did. He could be legally justified in killing you to prevent arson, burglary, robbery, aggravated robbery, theft during the nighttime, or criminal mischief during the nighttime... or to prevent your escape after committing one of those property crimes. You could also be killed to protect another person from aggravated kidnapping, murder, sexual assault, or aggravated sexual assault. He could use force, but not deadly force, in many other situations.
All that said, there are situations where violence is justified under criminal law but not under civil law... in other words, there are situations where a person can be sued for damages, like heathcare bills, even when they can't be charged with a crime. However, that is not my area of practice so I don't know the details. You'd need a civil law personal injury attorney to get more specifics.
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