Bowen v. State

I agree with the majority that the statutory defenses of self-defense under Texas Penal Code, section 9.31, and necessity under section 9.22 are not mutually exclusive in the context of a resisting arrest prosecution. However, I do not think that the court of appeals said that they were.1 Rather, both the trial court and the court of appeals stated that given the specific evidence in this particular case, appellant’s defense was wholly encompassed by the trial court’s instructions on self-defense. I agree with that conclusion and therefore respectfully disagree with the majority’s holding.

In…