“....emptied his .38-caliber revolver into Coleman...”
How much time between the first and last shot? I suspect this may be the issue here, but I don’t pretend to know.
Personally, I'd be okay if he reloaded twice in the process of stopping this violent thug from beating a girl. Legally, as long as the criminal was still standing or moving in a potentially threatening manner, as a juror I'd be okay with continuing to shoot until the threat is stopped. As the shooter, I'd responsibly stop as soon as the immediate threat to my life or safety or to that of another was stopped.
When my wife was taking her Concealed Carry class here in Texas, the instructor told the class that when the judge asks why you shot the victim 19 times the correct answer is, "That's all the ammo I had!"
But, this is Texas!
Majority of .38 revolvers are 5 shot. Smaller numbers are 6, a few are 7 shot.
So we don’t know how many he had to begin with, if he kept one cylinder empty, and we don’t know if all his shots hit the guy.