87R2720 JRR-F
 
  By: Springer S.B. No. 544
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to certain defenses to prosecution involving the
  justifiable use of force or threat of force.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 9.04, Penal Code, is amended to read as
  follows:
         Sec. 9.04.  THREATS AS JUSTIFIABLE FORCE. The threat of
  force is justified when the use of force is justified by this
  chapter. For purposes of this section, a threat to cause death or
  serious bodily injury by the exhibition [production] of a weapon or
  otherwise, as long as the actor's purpose is limited to creating an
  apprehension that the actor [he] will use deadly force if
  necessary, does not constitute the use of deadly force.
         SECTION 2.  Section 9.31(a), Penal Code, is amended to read
  as follows:
         (a)  Except as provided in Subsection (b), 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. The actor's belief that the force was immediately
  necessary as described by this subsection is presumed to be
  reasonable if the actor:
               (1)  knew or had reason to believe that the person
  against whom the force was used:
                     (A)  unlawfully and with force entered, or was
  attempting to enter unlawfully and with force, the actor's occupied
  habitation, vehicle, or place of business or employment;
                     (B)  unlawfully and with force removed, or was
  attempting to remove unlawfully and with force, the actor from the
  actor's habitation, vehicle, or place of business or employment; or
                     (C)  was committing or attempting to commit:
                           (i)  aggravated kidnapping, murder, sexual
  assault, aggravated sexual assault, robbery, or aggravated
  robbery; or
                           (ii)  arson, if the property intended to be
  damaged or destroyed was an occupied building, an occupied
  habitation, or an occupied vehicle;
               (2)  did not provoke the person against whom the force
  was used; and
               (3)  was not otherwise engaged in criminal activity,
  other than a Class C misdemeanor that is a violation of a law or
  ordinance regulating traffic at the time the force was used.
         SECTION 3.  Section 9.32(a), Penal Code, is amended to read
  as follows:
         (a)  A person is justified in using deadly force against
  another:
               (1)  if the actor would be justified in using force
  against the other under Section 9.31; and
               (2)  when and to the degree the actor reasonably
  believes the deadly force is immediately necessary:
                     (A)  to protect the actor against the other's use
  or attempted use of unlawful deadly force; or
                     (B)  to prevent the other's imminent commission
  of:
                           (i)  aggravated kidnapping, murder, sexual
  assault, aggravated sexual assault, robbery, or aggravated
  robbery; or
                           (ii)  arson, if the property intended to be
  damaged or destroyed was an occupied building, an occupied
  habitation, or an occupied vehicle.
         SECTION 4.  The change in law made by this Act applies only
  to an offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act.
  An offense committed before the effective date of this Act is
  governed by the law in effect on the date the offense was committed,
  and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose. For
  purposes of this section, an offense was committed before the
  effective date of this Act if any element of the offense occurred
  before that date.
         SECTION 5.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.