1-1  By:  Hirschi (Senate Sponsor - Whitmire)               H.B. No. 981
    1-2        (In the Senate - Received from the House April 5, 1995;
    1-3  April 6, 1995, read first time and referred to Committee on
    1-4  Criminal Justice; May 2, 1995, reported favorably by the following
    1-5  vote:  Yeas 5, Nays 0; May 2, 1995, sent to printer.)
    1-6                         A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
    1-7                                AN ACT
    1-8  relating to the justification for the use of force as a defense in
    1-9  the prosecution of a criminal case.
   1-10        BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
   1-11        SECTION 1.  Section 9.31(b), Penal Code, is amended to read
   1-12  as follows:
   1-13        (b)  The use of force against another is not justified:
   1-14              (1)  in response to verbal provocation alone;
   1-15              (2)  to resist an arrest or search that the actor knows
   1-16  is being made by a peace officer, or by a person acting in a peace
   1-17  officer's presence and at his direction, even though  the arrest or
   1-18  search is unlawful, unless the resistance is justified under
   1-19  Subsection (c);
   1-20              (3)  if the actor consented to the exact force used or
   1-21  attempted by the other;
   1-22              (4)  if  the actor provoked the other's use or
   1-23  attempted use of unlawful force, unless:
   1-24                    (A)  the actor abandons the encounter, or clearly
   1-25  communicates to the other his intent to do so reasonably believing
   1-26  he cannot safely abandon the encounter;  and
   1-27                    (B)  the other nevertheless continues or attempts
   1-28  to use unlawful force against the actor; or
   1-29              (5)  if the actor sought an explanation from or
   1-30  discussion with the other person concerning the actor's differences
   1-31  with the other person while the actor was:
   1-32                    (A)  carrying a weapon in violation of Section
   1-33  46.02; or
   1-34                    (B)  possessing or transporting a weapon in
   1-35  violation of Section 46.05.
   1-36        SECTION 2.  (a)  The change in law made by this Act applies
   1-37  only to an offense committed on or after the effective date of this
   1-38  Act.  For purposes of this section, an offense is committed before
   1-39  the effective date of this Act if any element of the offense occurs
   1-40  before the effective date.
   1-41        (b)  An offense committed before the effective date of this
   1-42  Act is covered by the law in effect when the offense was committed,
   1-43  and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
   1-44        SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1995.
   1-45        SECTION 4.  The importance of this legislation and the
   1-46  crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
   1-47  emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
   1-48  constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
   1-49  days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.
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