Joe Horn? Was he defending and protecting himself, or is it murder?

Question

Joe Horn, a resident of Pasadina, Texas, was on the phone to police reporting a burglary? The suspects were on his property and armed with a crowbar.
He took of when the suspects were living and Horn shot and killed the criminals as the police were taking their good time in responding.
Is it a crime? You deside!

Sorry for the typo. the suspects were leaving, and soon NOT living

How do people post an answer 2 minutes after the question come up and its two pages long? copy and paste? or what?

Laughter boy...if an angry criminal is standing in your front yard with a crowbar....tell me your not scared? thats what I mentioned.

Thats right, the criminals turned out to be illegals too! is this a double criminal?

Answer 1

he was totally justified and I think he will be NOT charged here in Texas..we are sick of thugs breaking into our homes to steal and sell the items to buy drugs...these guys are now off the street so they can't threaten, intimidate, rob, steal or rape, harass anyone else....I support Joe Horn and any decent citizen should!

Answer 2

I have heard of this. The only problem I have with this is the 911 recording where he seems anxious about going out and shooting them. I understand that the criminals were not selling cookies at his neighbors and should have been apprehended, but I don't think that justifies killing them. I think that he has a right to protect his neighborhood from thieves and criminals and he may have even had the right to brandish a gun for protection purposes while trying to detain the suspects until the police got there, but actually going out there and shooting to kill if the thieves represented no danger to him is manslaughter.

Now, also I think that everyone needs to let the justice system take its course and get out of trying to lobby for a verdict in this case. No amount of protests or lop-sided news reporting should sway the jury in this case. Instead, we need to put our faith in the justice system and let 12 people in his community decide whether what he did was up to their community standards or not. If they decide that what he did was justified, then clearly they want the rest of the nation to know that they are authorizing their citizens to shoot criminals caught in the act. If they decide that he is guilty, then they are setting the standard that their citizens must show restraint while policing their neighborhood.

Answer 3

Ok here goes.... A man looks out the window,sees two men that he's never seen before, carrying things from the neighbors house. He goes outside the safety of his house to confront the two men with his shotgun. He yells ,then shoots both dead. But wait ,what the shooter didn't know,was those two guys were distant relatives of the neighbor, that showed up to get belongings that were being stored there! Whooops!
That's a bit different than this case. Mr. Horn was not in any danger,and while on the phone to 911,he was told repeatedly NOT to go out! He did, and committed cold blooded murder! If you use his 'logic' to explain the murder,then it sounds like a person could shoot anybody that they thought was committing any kind of crime. So if you come out of your house,and this crazy fool thinks that you have just committed some sort of crime, your DEAD! That is why we have police! They're TRAINED to resond to dangerous situations. What if that shooter had missed,and killed the neighbors kid? What if the cops had shown up,and shot Mr. Horn for carrying the gun? The guy is the perfect representation of a neo-con! All that crap that O'Riley spews about going after the illegals and such. All that hate warps people judgment! It's disgusting how Fox News is reporting on this. They obviously take the side of Mr. Horn and his supporters. No real mention of the details of the law ,or why it might not be a good idea to start shooting people in your neighbors yard. The same thing is being debated about having teachers and students be allowed to carry concealed weapons in school. Is that gonna work? A free-for-all shoot out in the hallway ? If Mr. doesnt fry for what he did,then the rule of law will be OVER in America! Then there will be more of this kind of murder,until there is a civil war or something to restore the constitutional rule of law!

Answer 4

I hear you about people writing novels in a matter of minutes...its like they have access to some software i am not aware of...its kind creepy.
As for this situation, while I am all for shooting criminals (multiple times with the sole intention of incapaciation) I cannot see if there was cause here. If the suspects were entering his residence, and he shot them...not a problem. If they entered, saw it was occupied and attempted to flee...then not a real just cause to open fire.
So, without the full facts of the situation, i would say that the only cause to pop rounds into people is when they are on your property and are not looking to leave (this also works for holidays, when distant relatives won't leave)

Answer 5

Just listened to this story on the news. To me it was not clear if the men were escaping or threatening Mr. Horn.

I served on a jury once on a case similar to this. The judge made it very clear to be considered self defense, the man that fired the shots had to be in fear for his life. The man that was killed had also fired his gun but he turned and was running away. He was shot in the back. Because he was fleeing, his killer was convicted of manslaughter.

This case may very well go to trial for a jury to decide.

Answer 6

What I do know is this,I for one am glad he did it whether he was within the letter of the law or not. Just how much free reign do we have to give thugs before we decide we aren't going to allow them to mess with decent people anymore. I know I would have confronted them too,this **** has got to stop eventually,and now is as good a time as any. And we didn't lose anything useful to us through the deaths of these two,one less burden on society,good riddance!!

AD

Answer 7

The man is a HERO!!!!

We need more people like Joe Horn.

Answer 8

NO self Defense JOe Horn is a football player

Answer 9

Not sure about the specifics of Texas law, but generally, you cannot kill a person for invading or threatening your property.

You can, however, use deadly force to protect yourself and/or others from physical - deadly harm and you can protect your home with the same force. Big caveat here, a person on your land is not invading your home. A person inside your home is. A person trying to break down your door isn't. A person who has broken down your door and entered your home has.

Answer 10

Well, since they have the 'king of castle' law in Texas, if he was feeling ownership of his neighbors house in their absence, he may be 'innocent'. The whole case seems kind of sad though. He did what he thought was right but I don't think he's happy about it.