By:  Hirschi                                          H.B. No. 1121
       73R2897 DRH-D
                                 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
    1-1                                AN ACT
    1-2  relating to the justification for the use of force.
    1-3        BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
    1-4        SECTION 1.  Section 9.31(b), Penal Code, is amended to read
    1-5  as follows:
    1-6        (b)  The use of force against another is not justified:
    1-7              (1)  in response to verbal provocation alone;
    1-8              (2)  to resist an arrest or search that the actor knows
    1-9  is being made by a peace officer, or by a person acting in a peace
   1-10  officer's presence and at his direction, even though the arrest or
   1-11  search is unlawful, unless the resistance is justified under
   1-12  Subsection (c) of this section;
   1-13              (3)  if the actor consented to the exact force used or
   1-14  attempted by the other; <or>
   1-15              (4)  if the actor provoked the other's use or attempted
   1-16  use of unlawful force, unless:
   1-17                    (A)  the actor abandons the encounter, or clearly
   1-18  communicates to the other his intent to do so reasonably believing
   1-19  he cannot safely abandon the encounter; and
   1-20                    (B)  the other nevertheless continues or attempts
   1-21  to use unlawful force against the actor; or
   1-22              (5)  if the actor sought an explanation from or
   1-23  discussion with the other person concerning the actor's differences
   1-24  with the other person while the actor was carrying a weapon in
    2-1  violation of Section 46.02 of this code.
    2-2        SECTION 2.  (a)  The change in law made by this Act applies
    2-3  only to the prosecution of an offense committed on or after the
    2-4  effective date of this Act.  For purposes of this section, an
    2-5  offense is committed before the effective date of this Act if any
    2-6  element of the offense occurs before that date.
    2-7        (b)  The prosecution of an offense committed before the
    2-8  effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect when
    2-9  the offense was committed, and the former law is continued in
   2-10  effect for that purpose.
   2-11        SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1993.
   2-12        SECTION 4.  The importance of this legislation and the
   2-13  crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
   2-14  emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
   2-15  constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
   2-16  days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.