Defenses

The following are some of the defenses that may be available under Texas law (click the link to be taken to the page about that defense):

• Self-defense: A person may use reasonable force, including deadly force, to protect themselves or others from imminent harm.
• Defense of property: A person may use reasonable force, including deadly force, to protect their property from being taken or damaged by another person.
• Affirmative links: The connection or lack of connection between the accused, and an item they are accused of illegally possessing (for example, affirmative links connecting the passenger in a car to contraband found within the vehicle).
• Illegal Search and Seizure: The 4th amendment to the constitution protects citizens against unreasonable search and seizure. That means a warrant, or a narrowly construed exception to the warrant requirement. Unlawfully obtained evidence can be suppressed, and not used against the Defendant at trial.
• Consent: A person cannot be charged with a crime if the alleged victim consented to the conduct in question.
• Alibi: A person may argue that they were somewhere else at the time the crime was committed and therefore could not have committed the crime.
• Mistake of fact: A person may argue that they were mistaken about a fact, such as the ownership of property, and therefore did not have the intent to commit a crime.
• Duress: A person may argue that they were forced to commit the crime under threat of harm to themselves or others.
• Intoxication: A person may argue that they were so intoxicated at the time of the crime that they did not have the intent to commit the crime.
• Insanity: A person may argue that they were legally insane at the time of the crime and therefore did not have the mental capacity to understand the nature of their actions.
• Entrapment: A person may argue that they were induced or encouraged by law enforcement to commit the crime.