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Board Certified - Criminal Law - Texas Board of Legal Specialization

Criminal Law Blog

July 09, 2009

My client was not thinking too clearly one day.  He was worried about an acquaintance and so went by her apartment to see if she was all right.  No answer.  He feared that she was inside her apartment, incapacitated and unable to answer the door, so he got a drill out of his car, hopped the fence enclosing his acquaintance’s apartment patio, and began to try to enter the apartment. 

Now, the woman’s boyfriend was not pleased with any of this at all, as you might imagine.  He grabbed a Japanese sword (not a ceremonial sword, but a genuine razor sharp Samurai sword made from cold rolled steel) and went after my client.  Quickly realizing that his acquaintance had someone to look after her, my client took his drill and ran for his life to his car. 

He jumped in his car, backed out of his parking spot, and took off.  But not before the boyfriend’s sword put a slice into the metal trunk of the car. 

Now, I said a minute ago that my client was not thinking too clearly, but his heart was in the right place.  If you don’t agree, listen to this.  My client returned about an hour later, wanting to apologize.  In my client’s culture, it’s appropriate to offer money along with an apology, and that’s what my client did. 

Well, the woman’s boyfriend wasn’t too familiar with my client’s culture’s protocol for apologies.  He just grabbed the sword and went after my client again.  This time my client didn’t quite out run the boyfriend.  The boyfriend chased my client to his car.  My client jumped in the car, but hadn’t yet closed the driver’s door.  When he saw the boyfriend running up, he displayed a semi-automatic handgun, but did not point it at anyone.  The boyfriend, recognizing the “never bring a sword to a gunfight” rule, backed off and called 911. 

The grand jury indicted my client for an aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. 

The prosecutor and I talked about the case.  Initially the offer was for a felony probation.  On my client’s behalf, I declined, because my client complied with the law regarding self-defense.  Specifically, Texas Penal Code section 9.32 says that a person is justified in using deadly force against another … when and to the degree the person reasonably believes that deadly force is immediately necessary to protect himself against the other person’s use or attempted use of unlawful deadly force.  The boyfriend was using unlawful deadly force because the 2nd time my client went near his apartment he was trying to put cash on the ground and leave.  My client wasn’t armed at that point.  My client only displayed the handgun when the boyfriend came running up, deadly weapon in hand.

With my client’s authority, I offered to resolve the case with a plea to the crime he did commit, namely the criminal trespass he committed when he hopped the fence at the apartment.  And that is how it all worked out. 

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