Friend pulled a gun yesterday

[tnieto2004]

a person is justified in using force against
another when and to the degree he reasonably believes the force is
immediately necessary to protect himself against the other's use or
attempted use of unlawful force.

Thats all you need right there. Either way, when you feel you are in danger, stopping the attack is the thing to do. The guy assaulted a woman in the process, he was obviously ready for a fight. We shall wait and see.

 

[Bubbles]

Ok, so let's see if I have this straight:

Your friend and his girlfriend are out water-skiing. (Off-topic: where was the third person? It takes three people to water-ski safely: one to drive the boat, one to ski, one to watch the skier.) At some point they do something to tick off the other guy.

Your friend and his girlfriend drive the boat back to the boat ramp or marina, with the other guy in pursuit. At that point they either need to put the boat in a boatslip, or they need to get it on a trailer.

While the truck was backed up on the boatramp with the trailer in the water, the other guy shows up wanting to kick the snot out of your friend. At that point they probably can't just drive off - the boat may or may not be secured properly to the trailer. So, they're stuck.

Your friend happens to have his pistol in the truck. While the other guy is assaulting your friend's girlfriend, he grabs the pistol and dials 911. Your friend warns off the other guy verbally three times; other guy keeps agressing. Your friend points the pistol at the other guy; the other guy backs off.

The rest is history.

Is this correct?

 

[tnieto2004]

I suppose that if he felt that his life was endangerd to the point of using deadly force to repel the attack, he could have gotten in the truck and locked the doors.
Am I supposed to take your frinds side just because he had a gun, and I am a gun owner also?
I guess I can sympathise with the other guys whose child your friend admittedly endangered. I am a boater, and I have seen some real assclowns on the water. If someones recklessness with a boat, car, etc. endangered my kids life, I would be pissed too. Maybe even pissed enough to kick someones butt.
From what I have read, your ex-marine friend was not justified in the use of deadly force.

so you think that a man on water ski's accidentally (yes, it was an accident) coming close to you merits a chase, an assault on a woman, and then attack on you? As for your "assclowns", sorry to hear that but what should we do? Beat em all up?

 

[frank23185]

Meanwhile, on a some boaters BB, some guy is probably writing about how some waterskier nearly ran over his kid, and then had the nerve to pull gun on him when confronted over the issue. Probably receives much praise over his handling of the situation.

My bet is that there are no innocent players in this episode.

 

[tnieto2004]

Ok, so let's see if I have this straight:

Your friend and his girlfriend are out water-skiing. (Off-topic: where was the third person? It takes three people to water-ski safely: one to drive the boat, one to ski, one to watch the skier.) At some point they do something to tick off the other guy.

Your friend and his girlfriend drive the boat back to the boat ramp or marina, with the other guy in pursuit. At that point they either need to put the boat in a boatslip, or they need to get it on a trailer.

While the truck was backed up on the boatramp with the trailer in the water, the other guy shows up wanting to kick the snot out of your friend. At that point they probably can't just drive off - the boat may or may not be secured properly to the trailer. So, they're stuck.

Your friend happens to have his pistol in the truck. While the other guy is assaulting your friend's girlfriend, he grabs the pistol and dials 911. Your friend warns off the other guy verbally three times; other guy keeps agressing. Your friend points the pistol at the other guy; the other guy backs off.

The rest is history.

Is this correct?

His brother was IN the boat while all this happened. He was circling the boat in the water waiting to drive the boat on the trailer. It in on a bayou, no boat slips. The rest is pretty accurate. The gun was in his truck because he travels a lot. This is legal in Texas.

 

[frank23185]

"circling the boat in the water waiting to drive the boat on the trailer"

So, your friend could have, in fact, drove away. Is that correct?

 

[tnieto2004]

Meanwhile, on a some boaters BB, some guy is probably writing about how some waterskier nearly ran over his kid, and then had the nerve to pull gun on him when confronted over the issue. Probably receives much praise over his handling of the situation.

My bet is that there are no innocent players in this episode.

I don't know if he should have pulled a gun. I wasn't there. He may be in the wrong, but it doesn't matter what anyone THINKS it's what they can prove.

 

[kellyj00]

interesting story.
So, your marine buddy runs into trouble on dry land with a guy bigger than him and runs to his truck to retrieve his gun, then calls the police while holding this bigger fella at gunpoint.

What did the other fella have? a boat anchor? a club, something? right?

I'm not sure where "pressing charges" comes in to this, these are criminal offenses and are against the state. If you want to, you can talk the DA into no wasting their time and not prosecuting the other guy because you don't care that much, but you have to explicitly drop the charges. It's a crime against the state, not against your buddy or his girlfriend or the big guy who got the gun drawn on him.

I don't know how all this went down, but I'm not a small fella at 6'2", 250 lbs. I'm also not a scary looking fella. If I've lost my temper because someone was acting stupid on the water, I'd be darned sure to tell them that they're going to hurt somebody....and I'd probably tell them in not so nice words that if they hurt my kid I wouldn't know what to do. Even though I'm a fairly large guy, I've never once had any urge to defend myself against an attacker. In all but one case, just a simple apology is all the angry person wants....and I'm not too proud to mouth the words "sorry" and wave to anyone who flips me off in traffic.

Not saying your buddy didn't do what he had to, and I don't know what I would have done in his shoes. I'm also saying I wasn't there so I don't know if the guy in the other boat didn't do what he had to do.

Your buddy will be offered a plea for possession and possibly assault if he threatened to hit the guy rather than assault with a deadly weapon and probably end up in probation....unless he pointed the gun directly at the guy. If he discharged his weapon at all, he'd be in for attempted murder.

why aren't you talking to your friend and not his girlfriend. Get $4,000 together and get a bail bondsman....some will even bail your buddy out for less than 10% down if he's got a clean record. Remember, you get your $4,000 back when he shows up for trial.

 

[tnieto2004]

"circling the boat in the water waiting to drive the boat on the trailer"

So, your friend could have, in fact, drove away. Is that correct?

Leave your brother and your boat alone with a man who is chasing you down, attacked a woman, and is trying to come after you? I am glad I'm not YOUR brother.

 

[Augustwest]

a person is justified in using force against
another when and to the degree he reasonably believes the force is
immediately necessary to protect himself against the other's use or
attempted use of unlawful force.

Thats all you need right there. Either way, when you feel you are in danger, stopping the attack is the thing to do. The guy assaulted a woman in the process, he was obviously ready for a fight. We shall wait and see.
tnieto2004 is online now Report Post

Not a lawyer, but I don't think it's quite as simple as, "That's all you need right there."

The key, in my mind, is the word "reasonably." If the DA, or a Grand Jury, or a Judge and/or Jury believe that his belief in the force he used was reasonable, then he's ok.

Again, I ain't no attorney.

 

[kellyj00]

ok, picture if this happened on the street. Guy cuts me off (your buddy) and I get angry because he's being reckless, so I follow him until he stops at a gas station. At this point I get out of my truck and come over to your buddy who's just outside of his truck. I say a few angry words and shake my fist. your buddy reaches into the truck and grabs a gun.

I'd be really really upset if that happened to me. I didn't threaten to kill the guy, but he's threatening to kill me. That's just not nice.

 

[Fburgtx]

Not for sure exactly what the Texas traveling law says about a LOADED weapon in the car, but if your friend was in a different county (even though THAT is not required anymore to prove traveling in Texas)it might not be an issue. He needs to get a good lawyer, for sure, but seeing as how the other guy assaulted his girlfriend and was about to do the same to him (and was twice his size), I think he can rightly claim he was in fear for his life and safety under Texas deadly force statutes. I would think the worst he would be guilty of would be illegal possession (and like I said, even that may not be an issue). How far did he have to go to his truck to get the pistol?? Does the other guy have a criminal record???

You might consider contacting TSRA and asking if they have any advice regarding good legal representation.

 

[frank23185]

.

 

[tnieto2004]

Believe it or not, My buddy said he was sorry to the guys kid and him. The guy told him that he was gonna be sorry when he got a hold of him.

My buddy is a very nice and respectful guy. I don't see him EVER wronging someone and not apologizing.

 

[springmom]

He's going to need a good lawyer. The current charges are not necessarily what he will go to trial on; a lawyer may get this down to a lesser charge. The fact that they chose the harshest charge possible in this suggests they may be looking to bargain it down some to, say, brandishing. Either way, though, he needs a REALLY good lawyer to be handling this.

Good luck to him.

Springmom

 

[kellyj00]

I ain't no judge, but I did stay at a holiday inn express once.
What your buddy is looking at here is a real pickle. He's being charged with assault w/ deadly weapon, that has a pretty harsh penalty in my parts...everyone I've heard of with this charge ends up doing time in state jail...not forever, just a while.

Breaking a beer bottle on a bar counter will get you the same charge, well, plus drunk and disorderly.

 

[springmom]

ok, picture if this happened on the street. Guy cuts me off (your buddy) and I get angry because he's being reckless, so I follow him until he stops at a gas station. At this point I get out of my truck and come over to your buddy who's just outside of his truck. I say a few angry words and shake my fist. your buddy reaches into the truck and grabs a gun.

I'd be really really upset if that happened to me. I didn't threaten to kill the guy, but he's threatening to kill me. That's just not nice.

You may not have threatened to kill the guy, but in your hypothetical, you sure did threaten him. That's not particularly nice either, you know.

I hope the OP updates us on what happens with this case, because it's odd on a lot of levels.

Springmom

 

[tnieto2004]

Not for sure exactly what the Texas traveling law says about a LOADED weapon in the car, but if your friend was in a different county (even though THAT is not required anymore to prove traveling in Texas)it might not be an issue. He needs to get a good lawyer, for sure, but seeing as how the other guy assaulted his girlfriend and was about to do the same to him (and was twice his size), I think he can rightly claim he was in fear for his life and safety under Texas deadly force statutes. I would think the worst he would be guilty of would be illegal possession (and like I said, even that may not be an issue). How far did he have to go to his truck to get the pistol?? Does the other guy have a criminal record???

You might consider contacting TSRA and asking if they have any advice regarding good legal representation.

I don't know ANYTHING about the other guy. He was standing by his truck when the guy started coming after him. His girlfriend tried to talk him down and he pushed her down. Thats when he drew on him.

 

[tnieto2004]

ok, picture if this happened on the street. Guy cuts me off (your buddy) and I get angry because he's being reckless, so I follow him until he stops at a gas station. At this point I get out of my truck and come over to your buddy who's just outside of his truck. I say a few angry words and shake my fist. your buddy reaches into the truck and grabs a gun.

I'd be really really upset if that happened to me. I didn't threaten to kill the guy, but he's threatening to kill me. That's just not nice.

A lot of you people are forgetting that he PUSHED a woman down. That is more than just telling him your angry at him.

 

[kellyj00]

"My buddy is a very nice and respectful guy. I don't see him EVER wronging someone and not apologizing."

I had a friend who I haven't seen drink in years (mennonite) get a DUI.
I've also seen an 80 lb woman eat 3 big macs and 2 super size fries.

 

[kellyj00]

"A lot of you people are forgetting that he PUSHED a woman down. That is more than just telling him your angry at him."

was her name hillary? I'm getting excited just thinking about it.
sorry, horribly inappropriate.

 

[frank23185]

Say, your friend may well have been justified, I don't know because I have not got the full story, and I was not there.

I think he will have a tough time convincing a jury that deadly force was justified on his part.

I wish your friend good luck.

Moral of the story? Have more options available other than a gun.

 

[budney]

Tnieto, you're sounding a bit defensive:

so you think that a man on water ski's accidentally (yes, it was an accident) coming close to you merits a chase, an assault on a woman, and then attack on you?

It doesn't "merit" an assault, but in self-defense cases you lose your "mantle of innocence" if you in any way provoked your attacker. If you cuss a guy out, he assaults you, and you shoot him, you can and probably will be charged with a crime. It ain't self-defense if you started it.

Leave your brother and your boat alone with a man who is chasing you down, attacked a woman, and is trying to come after you? I am glad I'm not YOUR brother.

You make it sound like leaving buddies behind in Nam. It's perfectly reasonable to bug out, call the cops, return with or after the cops, and pick up your brother and the boat at that time.

--Len.

 

[Cosmoline]

As far as this person, he needs to get a lawyer YESTERDAY. And he needs to proceed with caution. The Texas criminal justice system is roughly on par with Yemen's.

On the question of whether you can draw because someone pushes your girlfriend down, remember that as a general matter, particularly off your property, you need to be very careful about using deadly force to defend against NON deadly force.

 

[Geno]

It is time to have an attorney to step in; this is wrong.