Grand Jury Clears Texan in the Killing of 2 Burglars

I am glad the law was upheld. Our justice system does not always work but in this case Justice prevailed.

 

But it was his neightbor's home that was being robbed, not his - correct? Seems like that should change it somewhat, though I don't know the the details of the Texas castle law.

 

Try telling that to the families of the dead

One man's justice is another man's injustice.

 

That proves crime does not pay.

 

Indeed. But death is too big a punishment for robbery prompted by poverty. Nobody can be pardoned in this incident, neither the burglar's nor joe horn.
But the robbers got the extremely short end of the stick.

 

Poverty or Laziness? They were not stealing food. They were after a quick take. What happened to working? I am not going to put thieves up on a pedastal.

 

Sure. But do they "deserve" death. Won't time in the slammer do ?
If not, why do we even have prisons. Can't we just execute everyone who commits crimes like shoplifting, burglary and so on.

 

I did not shoot the guys. Horn was within his right.

Jury nullification is alive and well, and there are two less felons to feed.

 

I have left my keys in the house and broken into my own home. I would hate to think some dumbass next door would shoot me with a shotgun because he thought he was protecting something.

You seem to take a very black and white view of this scenario. What if a Grand Jury came back with an indictment on the same facts. Would you agree with them? Just because a Grand Jury makes a decision does not make that decision the right one.

You arguments on this thread show a total lack of depth to your thinking and analysis.

Having read Horn's own words, he sounds like a decent man. You sound like someone who would purposely kill these guys knowing full well other options were available.

 

I think the issue was that they were commiting a buglary inside a private home. Many times these crimes are accompanied by rape or killing the owners of the home. There are also cases were children are abducted and found dead. There are quite a few cases where the crimminals return. There is an old saying that a crimminal returns to the scene of the crime. With all that in mind only a fool would let them walk away.

In the US there are plenty of 'soup kitchens' run by charities and churches that will give a free meal away. There's also plenty of ways to steal without invading a private home.

An Arizona home invasion allegedly orchestrated by Mexican citizens wearing tactical gear sparked fears that members of the Mexican military were involved in a wave of violent crime in the Phoenix area, according to local reports.

Police followed the sound of gunshots early Monday morning to the home of 30-year-old Andrew Williams, whose bullet-riddled body was found inside, the Arizona Republic reported. Officers then pursued a report of a suspicious Chevrolet Tahoe in the vehicle and arrested three suspects, all wearing body armor and carrying assault-style rifles.

A statement by one of the suspects that he had received prior military training fueled speculation into the fact that they were members of the Mexican military. Phoenix police said Wednesday that none of them were active members.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,372202,00.html

Almost a year after a break-in that ended with the deaths of three members of a Cheshire family, a new crime of "home invasion" ...
http://www.boston.com/news/local/connecticut/articles/2008/06/30/conn_cracks_down_on_home_invasions/

 

Lack of debt or not believing in nonsense fact and unfounded claims. I don't believe in Peter pan or the tooth fairy either. The Jury made a black and white decision on the case based on the facts. Not fairy tales. If you read the report you will see they actually crossed his property at that point he was in imminent danger. (I understand if he would have stayed inside he would not have been in danger). He stepped out trying to stop a crime. He did not know if they were armed or not. I take it that most people would look the other way, Mr. Horn did not. The police detective in the yard sure wasn't going to stop the crime. Should he have pulled the trigger? I don't know. Would I have pulled the trigger?... That would be based on the circumstances as they unfolded. I wasn't there. I would not hesitate on pulling the trigger if needed. If you ever kill a person you will think about it the rest of your life whether it was justified or not. Mr. Horn stepped out of the house and protected his home, his neighbors, and neighborhood. It seems if anybody disagrees they “lack depth to thinking and analysis”. The lack of debt and analysis is called “common sense”. Mr. Horn will not be charged, it is over. We can have wild speculation about Federal Charges, Civil Charges and Peter Pan and Captain Hook being brought in for questioning. Common Sense will be the road I will take in this discussion. I do like having fun and speculating as much as the next person but not on this issue. It is cut and dry.

 

First off, the thieves put themselves in danger by choosing the break into the neighbor's house, THEN the thieves chose to take their chances by trying to run away after Joe Horn told them to stop. They rushed Joe Horn, saw his weapon, changed their minds, and tried to flee. Joe Horn chose to protect his neighborhood and shot the criminals.

Again, the burglars chose to take their chances of running away over certain "time in the slammer". Bad choice for the thieves. Joe shot both of them. That is his right. The citizens of Houston think he is a hero by a two to one margin.

Now you think the residents of Texas have declared open season on shoplifters? That's really feeble. Stick to the issue at hand.

 

There was only a matter of seconds between him going outside 'after clearly stating over and over' he was going to kill them.

To claim imminent danger, or that they actually full out rushed him is simply idiotic to say the least.

No matter what you're doing, a guy comes out angry with a gun you're going to run. If one was pointed towards him when the guy came out it's simple to see he could and more than likely would partially run that way while turning around.

There was no time to rush for an imminent danger, Horn went outside to kill them as he stated over and over, to claim anything else is foolish.

Unless the guys are the Flash and can run in a couple of seconds acrossed the properly line enough to actually cause a imminent threat while having enough time to turn around in these mere seconds to then be shot in the back.

I know a guy running away from me surely does not bring up an imminent threat in my mind, I guess I'm just not a pussy like some.

 

That does not state the situation should not be discussed.

If a child molester gets off from a 'technicality' do people not discuss the facts at hand?

The grand jury also does not decide on in a law is being used properly or not That makes the entire situation far from over.

 

Texas is not Iran, but it puts it one step closer. People find cutting off the hands of thieves horrifying, but how about shooting them? That's more "Christian", isn't it?

In Iran they also hang homosexuals, and that sounds unthinkable in America today, but once shooting burglars becomes OK, you only need a majority of fundies in a legislative body to make it 'thinkable'. Perhaps not hanging (I know it's an exaggeration), but something more "Christian" and not so "Muslim" (being sardonic again)

Sorry about the term, I don't like it either but I wanted to stress the point by using the term that christian fundies use to refer to homosexuals publicly.

 

Wrong! You are the pussy that would hide in his house and tell the neighbor:

"Hey Bob, I saw some guys taking your stuff last night. I could have stopped them, but I didn't want to get involved."

Wow, your statements are soooo off the wall. When did Joe Horn talk about being a Christian? I'm not sure the word "Christian" has been used in this thread except by you.

 

Sure, but my point holds anyways without the christian part. Just was essaying about hypocrisy.

 

You could always get your points across without those kinds of "direct" remarks and assumptions.

 

Shooting burglars IS OK. Texas just allows you to protect your neighbor's property too. There are states where is is legal to shoot a carjacker.

I dont' see anything hypocritical about this. Hypocrisy is saying one thing and doing another. Have I missed something?

 

No, you haven't, I'm just getting off topic.