Posted on 03/07/2011 7:30:03 PM PST by smokingfrog
There was no need to pass laws like the above in Texas.
Texas state law permits the use of deadly force in the situation described. If they are fleeing the scene of a crime at night, you can chase them down the street and plug 'em. On the face of it what the homeowner did was legal.
Bexar (pronounced "bear") County DA Susan Reed is not a 'Rat. She may be a RINO, but maybe not. Perhaps there are circumstances here we don't know about.
See #18 above, it has the link to the TX statute, which are not that bad as far as readability goes, granted some legalese.
I noted that it specified that you could shoot them while fleeing if they had some of your property you wanted to recover, and this might be the sticking point. Since supposedly the dead guy was not a thief, he didn’t have stolen goods on him.
As with such cases, “the devil is in the details”, and this might be what gets him convicted. His big defense seems to be that after he chased down the guy, he turned and lunged. That will be for the medical examiner to determine with shot angles, etc.
From a jury’s point of view, firing five shots at close range is problematic, as the two being off the homeowner’s property, and no evidence that the intruder committed any crime other than intruding.
I’m still leaning strongly to conviction. Time will tell, though, and pretty soon.
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