[Jishory]

maybe some of you heard about this story before, bad day to be a criminal

Grand jury clears man in shootings of possible burglars | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle

[kip59]

lucky man!



I will be interested to see how this pans out as I don't think that this is the end of this case.

[Torx]

wwooohoo!! i wish i had neighbors like him.

in my part of town.. you could be getting robbed outside and people will shut their blinds, look away or act like they didnt see anything.

[SoulAssassin]

Good news either way...I thought you were talking about the NFL player Joe Horn at first

[mistawiskas]

Another, albeit very small, token bone that sorta revives a bit of faith in the just-us system.

[Goofus Maximus]

If they'd been shot in the front, there wouldn't be as much hoo-haw over it all. Still, he lucked out because of the media frenzy, which means folks would have set up funds to help him pay for a decent lawyer.

Some poor sucker of the wrong skin color doing the same thing would get no media coverage, and would get the death penalty.

[MSP]

I initially supported him shooting the thieves, until I heard he had told the 911 operators that he was going to go outside and kill them. They got what they deserved, and I support him defending himself and his property, but saying what he said to me sounds like it was a premeditated killing. The court strikes down death for child rapists, but petty thieves can be shot on site? Something seriously wrong with our court system.

[mistawiskas]

Originally Posted by MSP

..... Something seriously wrong with our court system.

That, my friend, is an understatement.

[Goofus Maximus]

Law is all about word games. I'm sure the graduates of law school who passed the BAR exam find all this completely logical. There is no conclusion too absurd, as long as the correct collection of words is used...

[JustinL]

Note to self, say to 911 operator "I am going outside to detain the individuals until police arrive."

[Juballharshaw]

The man was within the rights of the law, despite his premeditated murder 911 call, but it doesn't make the law right. When the law values property over human life, even that of a criminal, morality has left the law.

[bigwill51534]

I would have absolutely no problem doing the same as this guy did. I also know that my neighbors would do the exact same.

I have no problem protecting the property of my friends/family/neighbors. If anyone ever threatened their well being, I would gladly fight for them. And I got the big guns, so it wouldn't be pretty....

~Will Courtier~

[Chris]

I'm glad the charges were dropped. I probably would've done the same thing, but probably not shoot-to-kill. Just shoot to incapacitate until the cops arrive

[MSP]

I dunno. I wouldn't shoot unless I was in fear of my life. And if I'm in fear of my life I'm not going to be looking to just injure the perp. Right in the chest is where my bullets are going.

[PencilWntGtU2TheMoon]

Where's the ethics rule that says if you catch people robbing your house or your neighbor's house you have to let them go and get away with your shit?

I suppose the old man should have gone over and physically restrained them. He presented deadly force, they did not comply, that's what you get.

[hans5849]

At least shoot them in the chest.

[Mr. Ali]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLtKCC7z0yc

Fuck it, this guy is ok in my book.

[MovingTarget]

I'm going to play devils advocate here. The operator was absolutely correct. He should not have gone outside. I can see it being justified if they were already on his property and threatening him.... But he went out and confronted them and even said "you're dead" a couple of times before he started shooting.... and he shot them in the back too.... that means that most likely they were going away from him not going towards him and threatening him....

Granted I am glad the gene pool is better off without those fucking thieves..... but what Joe did was not right. Property could have been replaced no problem, that's what insurance is for.

[MSP]

Originally Posted by PencilWntGtU2TheMoon

Where's the ethics rule that says if you catch people robbing your house or your neighbor's house you have to let them go and get away with your shit?

I suppose the old man should have gone over and physically restrained them. He presented deadly force, they did not comply, that's what you get.

There are all sorts of self defense laws related to this. The way I understand it is if a guy charges you with just his fists and you shoot him dead you're probably going to the grand jury. But if you shoot him in the leg, or use some other form of non-lethal defense you're OK. In my mind, if I have a gun and a guy keeps charging at me then HE is going to have a gun. The part about this story that disturbs me is that he said he was going to kill them before he went outside, and then shot them in the back. Premeditated, and kinda hard to declare self defense when they were heading in the opposite direction.

There was a similar story in the news a few years back where a guy had been broken in to so many times that he rigged a shotgun to go off if someone tried to come in. Some punk did and ended up getting killed, and the guy went to court for using excessive force. I don't recall if he was convicted or not.

[Juballharshaw]

I've always understood it that if you're going to use deadly force you should aim to kill. If you don't aim to kill then deadly force isn't necessary. Plus if you do kill them then there's only one side of the story. Your's.