Houston, TX asked in Criminal Law for Texas

Q: am i allowed to defend myself from someone using a bull horn in my face?

if i am being physically assaulted and injured i am allowed to defend myself. extremely loud sound physically hurts me. i feel assaulted when someone deliberately uses loud noises directed at me in an aggressive manner. those loud noises physically hurt me. am i allowed to use physical force to end the sound assault?

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2 Lawyer Answers

A: Probably not, but it depends if you have an opportunity to get away from it.

A: If you are imagining some possible future situation, the safest and cheapest solution is to simply avoid it.

If you have already been accused (or if this is a hypothetical thought experiment) then the next question to ask yourself is how much money you are willing to spend on the defense. You'll want to budget at least $50K for your defense and don't be shocked if it goes over.

A cheap or court appointed attorney isn't going to do the research and preparation necessary to win this type of argument. In addition to a good attorney, you're probably going to want two testifying experts, maybe three... a physicist to explain that sound waves cause physical contact... an otolaryngologist (ear doctor) to explain injury... and perhaps someone with military or police training on an LRAD sonic weapon to speak to aural pain as a means of attack.

Your chances of winning will be better if you did NOT approach the source of the sound or otherwise provoke the difficulty.

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