Joe Horn cleared of all charges
unsung
I stopped by on March 7 2024. First time in many years, had to update payment info. Hope all is well. Politicians suck. Bye. Posts: 9,487
http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/06/30/burglary.shooting.ap/index.html
HOUSTON, Texas (AP) -- A Texas man who shot and killed two men he suspected of burglarizing his neighbor's home was cleared in the shootings Monday by a grand jury.
Joe Horn, 61, shot the two men in November after he saw them crawling out the windows of a neighbor's house in the Houston suburb of Pasadena.
Horn called 911 and told the dispatcher he had a shotgun and was going to kill the men. The dispatcher pleaded with him not to go outside, but Horn confronted the men with a 12-gauge shotgun and shot both in the back.
"The message we're trying to send today is the criminal justice system works," Harris County District Attorney Kenneth Magidson said.
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.
The two Horn suspected of committing burglary, 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.
The episode 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.
"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's use of deadly force did not rise to a criminal offense."
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 a 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.
HOUSTON, Texas (AP) -- A Texas man who shot and killed two men he suspected of burglarizing his neighbor's home was cleared in the shootings Monday by a grand jury.
Joe Horn, 61, shot the two men in November after he saw them crawling out the windows of a neighbor's house in the Houston suburb of Pasadena.
Horn called 911 and told the dispatcher he had a shotgun and was going to kill the men. The dispatcher pleaded with him not to go outside, but Horn confronted the men with a 12-gauge shotgun and shot both in the back.
"The message we're trying to send today is the criminal justice system works," Harris County District Attorney Kenneth Magidson said.
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.
The two Horn suspected of committing burglary, 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.
The episode 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.
"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's use of deadly force did not rise to a criminal offense."
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 a 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.
Post edited by Unknown User on
0
Comments
I still don't understand how shooting someone in the back can be considered self-defense. Seems more like vigilante justice, the same as if he had tracked them down to their own homes and shot them in their sleep.
They were obviously using the Brazilian jujitsu "back attack" against him and he was smart enough to figure it out before it worked on him. The back can be used in numerous deadly grappling holds. Joe Horn is lucky to be alive and able to continue his career in the NFL for the Atlanta Falcons.
Now you can shoot people in the back??? Someone walking on the sidewalk in front of your house, you can shoot now???
Texas or Florida. Which state sucks more?
sorry, but that is wrong.
Nice... from the time this story first happened through now, I still picture that Joe Horn when reading his name... Then I get angry because how badly he let me down a few years ago on my fantasy team
was like a picture
of a sunny day
“We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses.”
― Abraham Lincoln
...are those who've helped us.
Right 'round the corner could be bigger than ourselves.
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'd rather be tried by twelve than carried by six.
Just cuz his attorney says it, doesn't make it true...
The grand jury evidently believed his attorney.
Gibson Amphitheatre (Los Angeles): 10/7/09
or they adhered to this stupid law:
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 a neighbor's property; for example, if a homeowner asks a neighbor to watch over his property while he's out of town.
either way, this guy got away with murder...sadly that happens from time to time...
naděje umírá poslední
It's quite possible that Mr. Horn's actions did meet the elements of murder. However, because his victims were illegally in the United States and because they were in the process of commiting a crime(s), the grand jury was not sympathetic to their side. In other words, the victims (the two dead guys) were tainted because of their backgrounds.
Gibson Amphitheatre (Los Angeles): 10/7/09
Keep that in mind next time you cut through your neighbor's yard.
was like a picture
of a sunny day
“We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses.”
― Abraham Lincoln
Hehe. Me too. As far as FF, I wouldnt have him anywhere near my team anymore...lol.
No kidding. I have no problem with defending your life but this was nowhere near that. Here is a photo of the three involved (they should just show the two dead guys' backs, IMO). What a "hero".
http://www.rackjite.com/graphics/joehorn2.jpg
I agree and even as a gun nut, there is no reason to shoot to kill in this situation. Sounds like he could have easily fired a warning shot and then had them lie down face first on the ground and wait for the cops to arrive... If you just have to get involved, it shouldn't be hard to control two people with a shotgun. Sounds to me like he wanted to shoot someone.
Of course, I wasn't there.
Please Support My Writing Habit By Purchasing A Book:
https://www.createspace.com/3437020
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000663025696
http://earthtremors.blogspot.com/
On top of my post earlier, I also don't understand how you can shoot two people in self defense. I mean logically after you shoot the first one (in the back no less) I can't see the second guy trying to attack you or being any sort of a threat that you would need deadly force to defend yourself from.
Wait a second, is it just me, or does it sound like the District Attorney didn't think Joe Horn did anything wrong, and if so, how could he have even been trying to convict him?
"I've got a shotgun; you want me to stop him?" Horn asked the dispatcher.
"Nope. Don't do that," the dispatcher replied. "Ain't no property worth shooting somebody over, OK?"
Horn was clearly upset by the dispatcher's response.
"I'm not gonna let them get away with it," he said. "I can't take a chance getting killed over this, OK."
Despite the dispatcher's protects, Horn said, "I'm gonna shoot! I'm gonna shoot!"
The 911 dispatcher warned Horn to stay inside at least a dozen separate times, telling him, "An officer is coming out there. I don't want you to go outside that house."
Then Horn — sounding angrier by the moment — cited the new Texas law.
"OK, but I have a right to protect myself too, sir," he said. "And you understand that. And the laws have been changed in this country since September the first, and you know it and I know it."
Moments later, Horn saw two burglars leave his neighbor's house, one of them carrying a bag filled with cash and jewelry.
"I'm gonna kill him," Horn said.
"Stay in the house," the dispatcher said.
"They're getting away," Horn replied.
"That's all right," the dispatcher said. "Property's not worth killing someone over. OK?"
"---damn it," said Horn, who then defied the dispatcher.
"Well, here it goes, buddy, you hear the shotgun clicking, and I'm going," he said.
"Don't go outside," the dispatcher warned.
Well if they have the tv then shoot them in the kneecaps and torture them a while before killing them.
Joe Horn should be locked up for the rest of his pathetic life.