Q: Self defense because of domestic violence
My sister got taken into custody because she fired a shot at her abusive boyfriend. His free but she got put in jail for shooting at him with a busted up face and bruises everywhere. They have a child together and police let him keep the kid. Neither parent (him or my sister) are legal. What are her options?
A:
There are situations in which the use of defensive force is allowed but the use of excessive force is NOT allowed. If the defendant is convicted, she will be permanantly barred from this country. She should hire the best defense attorney available in the county where the charges are pending.
A person may be justified in using force when, and to the degree, the person reasonably believes the force is immediately necessary to protect against the other person's use or attempted use of unlawful force. However, shooting at someone amounts to "deadly force," which is only justified to protect against unlawful deadly force, or the imminent commission of aggravated kidnapping, murder, sexual assault, or robbery. See section 9.31 and 9.32 of the Texas Penal Code for specifics.
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