J Horn is acquitted of wrongdoing.

[WarHawk-AVG]

It wasn't self defense as in it was preventing the criminals from fleeing immediately after committing a burglary of a habitation he was requested to watch out for

Apparently in the state of Texas, stealing stuff from people and peoples homes is a hazardous job!

[03Lightningrocks]

It wasn't self defense as in it was preventing the criminals from fleeing immediately after committing a burglary of a habitation he was requested to watch out for

Apparently in the state of Texas, stealing stuff from people and peoples homes is a hazardous job!

The issue of being requested to watch out for the house is bugging me too. Not that it matters I suppose, but if he was requested to watch the house, why did he tell the police in his video taped police interview that he first thought the burglars were doing a window replacement? Seems if he was so close to the neighbors that they asked him to watch the house, they would have told him a window repair guy was coming by. So if he knew they were out of town, his first thought would not have been a window repair...his first thought would have been ...burglars.

[SCone]

committing a burglary of a habitation he was requested to watch out for

When the operator asked him if he knew them, he said, "No I really don't know these neighbors"

Seems like it'd been a good time to tell them he was watching their house for them, don't 'ya think?

[03Lightningrocks]

committing a burglary of a habitation he was requested to watch out for

When the operator asked him if he knew them, he said, "No I really don't know these neighbors"

Seems like it'd been a good time to tell them he was watching their house for them, don't 'ya think?

Oh snap.

[WarHawk-AVG]

committing a burglary of a habitation he was requested to watch out for

When the operator asked him if he knew them, he said, "No I really don't know these neighbors"

Seems like it'd been a good time to tell them he was watching their house for them, don't 'ya think?

Oh snap.

Well I really don't know my neighbors much either..yet in passing one time the guy was leaving on vacation and said "Hey, keep an eye on the place"

Can someone prove he DIDN'T say that?

Would a neighborhood watch be implied consent?

[03Lightningrocks]

Well I really don't know my neighbors much either..yet in passing one time the guy was leaving on vacation and said "Hey, keep an eye on the place"

Can someone prove he DIDN'T say that?

Would a neighborhood watch be implied consent?

Like I said in my post...I am not sure it matters. Does the law require that I get permission from the neighbors to defend their property?

[57Coastie]

When the operator asked him if he knew them, he said, "No I really don't know these neighbors." Seems like it'd been a good time to tell them he was watching their house for them, don't 'ya think?

Well I really don't know my neighbors much either..yet in passing one time the guy was leaving on vacation and said "Hey, keep an eye on the place." Can someone prove he DIDN'T say that?

It is difficult to conclude from these two statements anything other than advice that Mr. Horn should have lied to the police -- the best way to get yourself into a crack. BTW, someone COULD prove that he didn't say that -- the neighbor who would have been quoted as saying something he did not say.

Jim

[Bart]

Apparently in the state of Texas, stealing stuff from people and peoples homes is a hazardous job!

I think Pruett had an ad where he suggested Houstonians should scare criminals into moving to Dallas.

I'd rather see Texans scare the criminals out of state completely. Let them go to San Francisco or Chicago or Canada or somewhere else with gun control. Texans would be safer. Criminals would be safer. Antigun activists would enjoy the benefits of their policies. Everyone would be happy.

[srothstein]

ummm, actually i think lightning is technically correct here. I remember TXI once saying that even in a self defense shooting that if you kill someone you technically committed murder, however you have a positive defense against prosecution in that it's self defense.

I think that must have been a discussion about homicide, not murder (homicide is often mistakenly used as a synonym for murder, when it's not).

The statutory definition of murder:
§ 19.02. MURDER.
(b) A person commits an offense if he:
(1) intentionally or knowingly causes the death of an
individual;

In a self defense shooting, a person does not intentionally or knowingly cause the death of an individual. Death might be a likely and foreseeable outcome, but it's not the goal. The goal is to stop the other person from doing whatever justifies shooting them.

I won't say it would make you guilty of either murder or manslaughter, but the law would still apply. If you have a justification under chapter 9, you have a defense to prosecution, as is stated in Section 9.02. This makes it clear that your shooting a person would be covered by Chapter 19 and a crime, but one you should not be found guilty of.

Compare this to Chapter 46 and non-applicability. Then, you would not be violating the law and theoretically not charged.

[SCone]

Murder is with malice & forethought
Manslaughter is recklessness with unintentional consequences
Justifiable Homicide is murder with an good excuse

[lawrnk]

committing a burglary of a habitation he was requested to watch out for

When the operator asked him if he knew them, he said, "No I really don't know these neighbors"

Seems like it'd been a good time to tell them he was watching their house for them, don't 'ya think?

Oh snap.

While fluent in ebonics, I assume your "snap" was the part where they hit the grass and met what they deserved?

[striker55]

Months ago when this first happened I went to my neighbor and asked him if he heard about Joe Horn. He said yes so I asked him if he wanted me to watch out for his house, he said sure and he would do the same for me, we shook hands on it.

[03Lightningrocks]

[stevie_d_64]

Would a neighborhood watch be implied consent?

Last time I took a look around that niegborhood, in the entrances from the main drag into the subdivision there are these "Neighborhood Watch" signs...We've seen tham around some of the places we live around, and maybe have them in our own neighborhoods...

If you watch your neighborhood or not...Take action, or not...Either by calling the law, or confronting the criminals and their actions yourself...It is all a choice we make, not that any of it is a permission slip in any instance...

Nor is it a "get out of taking the ride" of public opinion card either...