When Can You Claim You Were Acting in Self-Defense?

 Posted on January 15, 2025 in Criminal Defense

When someone attacks you, it is natural to protect yourself. Sometimes, in the act of defending yourself, you end up hurting the person who was trying to hurt you in the first place. When someone is injured in an altercation like that, it can be hard to prove who started assaulting who, and who was responding in self-defense. If you are facing criminal charges because your attacker got hurt when you acted to protect yourself, speak with a skilled Texas criminal defense lawyer to understand your options.

What Is Considered Self-Defense?

Self-defense is when you use force to protect yourself or others from harm. Texas law allows you to defend yourself, even with deadly force, if you believe that you or someone else is in danger of being hurt and you need to take action to prevent that. However, it is only legally considered self-defense and not assault if the force you use is necessary to stop the threat. If you keep fighting with an attacker once they no longer present a threat, it might not be considered self-defense anymore. 

Standing Your Ground

Texas law and federal law also include a Stand Your Ground rule that says that if you are in a situation where you feel threatened, you do not need to retreat but instead are legally entitled to use force to defend yourself. As long as you are not committing a crime and are legally permitted to be where you are when you feel threatened, you are allowed to stay in place and protect yourself with force if necessary.

Two important conditions that need to be present for you to be able to claim you were acting in self-defense rather than simply attacking someone include:

Immediate Threat of Harm

You can claim you were acting in self-defense if you can demonstrate that at the time, you were facing an immediate threat of harm. If someone attacked you with a weapon, you likely would not be punished for using force to protect yourself and stop the attack. The threat must be real and immediate, though; If you were acting in revenge for a previous attack and were not in any when you used force, this is not considered self-defense.

Reasonable Force

You are legally only allowed to use whatever amount of force is necessary to protect yourself and eliminate the threat of harm by the attacker. If someone punches you, punching them back and physically restraining them until help arrives would likely be considered reasonable force, but pulling a gun on them would not. You are permitted to use deadly force, including using a weapon, only if you believe your life or someone else’s is in danger.

Limits to Self-Defense

You cannot always claim self-defense, even if you were in a situation where you felt threatened. There are various scenarios in which you would likely lose the right to claim, you were defending yourself. Some include:

• You started or provoked a fight.

• You used excessive force in response to the initial attacker’s level of force.

• You were breaking the law at the time.

Regardless of what happened, a lawyer can review the details of your case and advise you on your options.

Schedule a Free Consultation with an Austin, TX Criminal Defense Lawyer

Self-defense can often be a strong justification that can defend you against criminal charges. However, it is not applicable in certain situations and you need a qualified Midland, TX criminal defense attorney to explain whether your case is one of those. At Morales Law Office, Attorneys at Law, PLLC., we are dedicated to helping our clients get the best outcomes and we will fight aggressively to protect your rights. Call us at 512-474-2222 to schedule a free consultation.