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2025 Texas Statutes
Penal Code
Title 2 - General Principles of Criminal Responsibility
Chapter 9 - Justification Excluding Criminal Responsibility
Subchapter C. Protection of Persons
Section 9.34. Protection of Life or Health
Universal Citation:
TX Penal Code § 9.34 (2025)
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Sec. 9.34. PROTECTION OF LIFE OR HEALTH. (a) A person is justified in using force, but not deadly force, against another when and to the degree he reasonably believes the force is immediately necessary to prevent the other from committing suicide or inflicting serious bodily injury to himself.
(b) A person is justified in using both force and deadly force against another when and to the degree he reasonably believes the force or deadly force is immediately necessary to preserve the other's life in an emergency.
Acts 1973, 63rd Leg., p. 883, ch. 399, Sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1974. Amended by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 900, Sec. 1.01, eff. Sept. 1, 1994.
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