A grand jury declined to indict a suburban Houston homeowner for shooting to death two men he believed were burglarizing his neighbor's house.Joe Horn, 61, shot the two men in the back last November after he saw them crawling out the windows of a neighbor's house in Pasadena, a Houston suburb."The message we're trying to send today is the criminal justice system works," Harris County District Attorney Kenneth Magidson told reporters at the courthouse. Horn confronted the men with a 12-gauge shotgun after a 911 dispatcher pleaded with him not to go outside his house. The two suspected burglars, Hernando Riascos Torres, 38, and Diego Ortiz, 30, were unemployed illegal immigrants from Colombia. Torres was deported to Colombia in 1999 after a 1994 cocaine-related conviction.On a 911 tape of the call, Horn can be heard threatening the two men, who were both shot in the back.In the 911 call, a dispatcher urges Horn to stay inside his house and not risk lives. "Don't go outside the house," the 911 operator pleaded. "You're gonna get yourself shot if you go outside that house with a gun. I don't care what you think." "You wanna make a bet?" Horn answered. "I'm gonna kill 'em." After the shooting, he redialed 911. "I had no choice," he said, his voice shaking. "They came in the front yard with me, man. I had no choice. Get somebody over here quick."The incident touched off protests from civil rights activists who said the shooting was racially motivated and that Horn took the law into his own hands. Horn's supporters defended his actions, saying he was protecting himself and being a good neighbor to a homeowner who was out of town.Horn's attorney, Tom Lambright, has said his client believed the two men had broken into his neighbor's home and that he shot them only when they came into his yard and threatened him. "I understand the concerns of some in the community regarding Mr. Horn's conduct," Magidson said. "The use of deadly force is carefully limited in Texas law to certain circumstances ... In this case, however, the grand jury concluded that Mr. Horn use of deadly force did not rise to a criminal offense." Magidson said nine of the 12 grand jurors would have had to vote in favor of an indictment in order for Horn to be charged. Lambright said this week that his client regrets the shooting and would stay inside if he had it to do over again. Lambright did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment from The Associated Press. Texas law allows people to use deadly force to protect themselves if it is reasonable to believe they are in mortal danger. In limited circumstances, people also can use deadly force to protect their neighbor's property; for example, if a homeowner asks a neighbor to watch over his property while he's out of town. It's not clear whether the neighbor whose home was burglarized asked Horn to watch over his house.
Now that you've had several months to think about the shootings, what do you think the grand jury should do? Horn claims self defense. Do you believe him?
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7 comments:
he should have stayed in his home. he completed his civic duty when he called the cops. the cops were right around the corner the burgulars wouldn't have gotten far.
911 Pleaded with him not to go outside and shoot. He decided to go outside. He wanted to shoot.
This grand jury is not the first to say it is not a crime to shoot a black man in the back. No trial needed, it has been that way forever.
This dude is crazy and a racist. i sure would like to see the jury for this case... i think i know who they'd all be...
After he shot the 2 men he called 911 back and they asked him if he knew his neighbors and he said no. WTF?
I have mixed feelings about the whole thing. Yes, he should have listed to the cops when they told him to go inside and not to shoot. But, come on....when you make bad decisions you are going to get bad results. We already know how our justice system works, blacks always get the short end of the stick. Yes I believe he is a racist and he will have to pay for his actions, just not behind bars. Im sick and tired of people trying to steel / rob from hard working people like myself! I work hard for what I have and itd dont come easy for me. So if someone was breaking in my home and my neighbor shoot them , well...lets just say I would not be mad at my neighbor.
I think this man was lucky. He was lucky he did not miss and shoot someone else by accident. He was lucky he was not shot by the police who had just arrived. And most of all he was lucky there was not a third person with a gun. It is common for a third person to stand close by and act as a look out. Something needs to be done, the next time things may not go so well.
This is too sickening. There are no words to describe how a man could get away with "open season" on black men. And to pay taxes to a system that encourages this destructive reckless behavior is . . . . is . . . hell I am without words!
Lynching has a new weapon - a 12 gage!!!
For breaking into "HIS NEIGHBORS house . . . . " , and in the back!!! Now if his neighbors where African-American and two white boys were climbing out their window would he have murdered them as well, or offered an assisting hand?
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