Is self-defense on private property always protected? Texas law experts say it depends.
Following a 13-mile chase with an unmarked vehicle back to his house near Haslet, Russell King shot a man who he later discovered was a Texas state trooper in plainclothes on April 23. A Denton County grand jury recently declined to charge King with a crime, upholding the claim that he was acting in self-defense.
What qualifies as self-defense on private property and how does it change when law enforcement is involved?
Texas has the “Stand Your Ground” law, also known as the “Castle Doctrine,” which states “a person is justified in using force against another when and to the degree the actor reasonably believes the force is immediately necessary to protect the actor against the other’s use or attempted use of unlawful force.”
Kent Ryan Kerley, Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice chair at UT Arlington, said the rights given to people to protect their homes through the law are pretty widespread.
“The amount of force that is demonstrated against you is approximately the same that you respond with,” he said
Whether “Stand Your Ground” is suspended or interpreted differently when law enforcement is involved can be debated by legal scholars, Kerley said. While the law grants widespread rights to people to protect their homes, law enforcement is protected by their own powers to ensure suspects comply, he said.
The situation is usually dependent on what happened prior to law enforcement arriving on the property. Kerley said if an officer is on the property to conduct a search or arrest warrant, there is no probable cause for self-defense.
“It would take something fairly extreme to be able to use the Castle Doctrine to defend your home and yourself against a law enforcement agent,” he said. “It would be a situation where the officer is clearly there off-duty not doing anything related to a particular case or any kind of situation and is there specifically to harass you or something like that.”
Robert Huseman, criminal defense lawyer and attorney to King, said during the state trooper’s chase with King, he never identified himself as law enforcement. The trooper, identified by the Texas Department of Public Safety as William Wallace, was driving an unmarked vehicle, was not in uniform and never showed any police identification throughout the chase, King said.
King said he didn’t know the man was a law enforcement officer until after he shot him. Wallace followed King and his wife to their home in far north Fort Worth, where the couple called 911 to report the man following them, he said. Wallace knocked on the front door, and King shot and wounded him through the door, home security video shows.
After the shooting, the Texas Rangers sent out a statement that said Wallace works for the Department of Public Safety’s Criminal Investigations Division and was conducting an investigation in the Haslet area, according to the Star-Telegram’s archives. DPS did not say what he was investigating.
In an email Friday, a DPS spokesperson said, “The Texas Ranger investigation into the April shooting of DPS Special Agent William Wallace remains active as evidence is pending disposition.”
Wallace is still recovering from his injuries and hasn’t returned to active duty, according to the email.
This story was originally published September 10, 2021 at 12:06 PM.
