New Texas Bill Seeks Protection for Law Enforcement Using Deadly Force

Many new bills are being announced during the 89th Legislature in Texas.  One we've seen has to do with Daylight Saving Time, another has to do with Texas DOGE, and now another one has been introduced involving law enforcement and deadly force.

What is Deadly Force?

According to Texas Statutes, deadly force is "force that is intended or known to cause death or serious bodily injury, or is capable of doing so."

Two Bills for the Use of Deadly Conduct Have Been Filed in the Texas Legislature

Representative Cole Hefner introduced House Bill 2436, and Senator Phil King introduced Senate Bill 1637. These bills aim to protect law enforcement officers who use deadly force in the line of duty.

This means that a law enforcement officer cannot be charged with deadly force if the officer was doing their job under official duties, and they believed what they were doing was justified.

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Since 2017, at least 5 Texas law enforcement officers have been convicted after using deadly force.

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What Texas Law Enforcement Officers Have Been Convicted after Using Deadly Force?

• Roy Oliver was convicted of murder in the death of 15-year-old Jordan Edwards in Balch Springs, Texas in 2017.
• Amber Guyger was convicted of Murder after using deadly force that resulted in the death of Botham Jean in Dallas in 2018.
• Aaron Dean was convicted of manslaughter in the death of Atatian Jefferson in Fort Worth in 2019.
• Gerald Goines was convicted of murder in the deaths of Dennis Tuttle and Rhogena Nicholas in Houston in 2019.
• Christopher Taylor was found guilty of deadly conduct after shooting 46-year-old Mauris DeSilva in an incident in Austin in 2019.  His partner at the time, Karl Krycia is currently facing deadly conduct charges.

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While some believe that this is protection for law enforcement, many believe that this gives police free rein to use deadly force without any consequences.