Most defense-of-others cases in Harris County do not involve strangers. They involve a friend outside a bar, a sibling at a family gathering, or a partner in a parking lot. Brian Foley's short video is a reminder to know the rule before the night it matters.
The rule in one sentence
Under § 9.33, you may use force to protect another person if, as you reasonably believed the situation to be, that person would have been justified in using the same force to protect themselves — and you reasonably believed your intervention was immediately necessary.
The two mistakes that lose the defense
Mistake 1: Protecting the aggressor. If your friend started the fight, your friend was not justified in using force — and neither are you. You "stand in their shoes." This is why the defense depends on what happened before you arrived, and why bar surveillance and bystander video are the first things a defense lawyer preserves.
Mistake 2: Continuing after the threat ends. Pulling an attacker off your friend is justified. Hitting him after he is on the ground is not — the danger has passed and force is no longer "immediately necessary." Many defense-of-others cases are lost not on the first punch but on the third.
What protects you
- Force proportionate to the threat. Deadly force requires a threat of deadly force or one of the listed violent felonies.
- Stopping when the threat stops.
- Saying nothing to police beyond "I was protecting my friend and I want a lawyer." Do not narrate the fight at the scene; the details you get wrong will be used against you.
In a Harris County courtroom
Once the evidence raises § 9.33, the State must disprove it beyond a reasonable doubt. Former prosecutors Brian Foley and Luis Baez know how the State evaluates a justification claim and how to present one to a grand jury before charges are ever filed. See our defense of a third party page or call or text (713) 703-1718.