The Sorry State of Today's Journalism

[houstonscott]

I do believe you are misinterpreting or misunderstanding something. Which statute or what case law are you using to reach that conclusion?

You can defend you property in Teas with deadly force, and you don't have to be on your physical property to do it. There are numerous cases where a vehicle is stolen from a drive way and the owner has caught up and killed the driver. Happen in Pearland not long ago, no charges filled. You are running down street with my TV, I can use deadly force to stop the behavior. There was a case not long ago where a guy killed robbers coming out of his next door neighbors home and liked them with a shot gun, no charges filled. That one was on neighbors property and neighbors stuff! He was on phone with 911 and told operator he was going to stop it, and he did. You get caught stealing in Texas you might be killed doing it. HS

 

[Garandman]

Clerk turns self in after man shot in head following chainsaw theft from store

Chris Beasley turned himself Friday morning at the Sheriff's Office. He's facing charges of assault with a deadly weapon and firing into an occupied vehicle.

 

[Bird]

You can defend you property in Teas with deadly force, and you don't have to be on your physical property to do it. There are numerous cases where a vehicle is stolen from a drive way and the owner has caught up and killed the driver. Happen in Pearland not long ago, no charges filled. You are running down street with my TV, I can use deadly force to stop the behavior. There was a case not long ago where a guy killed robbers coming out of his next door neighbors home and liked them with a shot gun, no charges filled. That one was on neighbors property and neighbors stuff! He was on phone with 911 and told operator he was going to stop it, and he did. You get caught stealing in Texas you might be killed doing it. HS

It just ain't that simple.

You get caught stealing in Texas you might be killed doing it.

Yes, that's true, and the person doing the killing might or might not go to prison for a long, long time. First, the police will likely arrest you. Then it will be up to the local district attorney to consider the relevant statues, then consider precedents (set by the appeals courts), then if he/she takes it to the grand jury, they will, in most cases, indict you if that's what the DA recommends, although grand juries do, on rare occasions, go against the DA's recommendation, then it goes to court where a jury may or may not convict and, and if so, may go for a long prison term, a short term, or even probation. At the very least, the person doing the killing had better be prepared for some large attorney fees.

 

[Parkanzky]

I'm sure that a lot of you "eye for an eye," "swift justice" folks will disagree, but based on what I've seen the guy deserves some jail time.

Deadly force should be used when there is the imminent danger of great bodily harm, not when some low-life is driving off with a yard tool.

You should all be upset. That kind of short-sighted, criminally-irresponsible behavior is threatening the gun rights most of you advocate.

 

[Sodo]

You should all be upset. That kind of short-sighted, criminally-irresponsible behavior is threatening the gun rights most of you advocate.

^^This. He had plenty of opportunity to shoot the tires (and even then he would be in trouble for endangering the public). Maybe the forums he reads they talk about shooting people as if it's "OK" even desirable. The gun should have come out only if it seemed the other guy had one. It's a bad deal.

To be honest I get satisfaction seeing a thief slapped down immediately but every person shot is one more nail in the coffin of gun rights.

 

[sixdogs]

Good thread.

 

[smstonypoint]

Just curious.

There are going to be some large medical bills for the man who was shot. Who do you think is going to end up paying the bills?

Steve

 

[bumperm]

I guess that thoughtlessness leads to senseless acts/crimes in any language or locale. Sadly, part of the nature of MAN.

When you drive down a country road and you see beer bottle/cans and trash off to the side, or worse, dirty diapers, that bespeaks of the attitude of a segment of our society has no respect for their fellow man or the environment in which they live, a narcissistic self centric narrow view of the world. Taken to the extreme, they behave like animals*, having absolutely no regard for others. Much of the truly atrocious behavior perpetrated in the commission of their crimes does not make the news.

*Well, actually a lot worse than most animals. My golden retriever loves everyone.

 

[RSKY]

It has been explained to me, during CCL class, that in Kentucky, if you see someone setting fire to ANY structure on YOUR property you can shoot until they are dead. It does not matter what kind of structure it is or if it is being used. If they are setting fire to a neighbor's building you cannot use deadly force. It must be on property you own. This is like a lot of other state laws in that it dates from a specific period in history. In this case from the Tobacco Wars about a hundred years ago. A family could have an entire years work go up in flames in a few minutes. The night riders used this tactic on farmers that sold to the Duke family cartel. Hence the law.

 

[texasjohn]

In the late '60s, Dallas had what I think the news media called the "shotgun squads". An officer, with a shotgun, would spend the evening in the back room of a convenience store, watching through a one way mirror, prepared to shoot anyone who tried to rob the store. And a number of hijackers were killed. I spent a number of evenings on that duty myself, including a couple of nights in a store in which 2 hijackers had been killed by officers. Fortunately, no store that I was sitting in was robbed while I was there. But the best I can remember, NO ONE in the news media, or elsewhere, objected to the killing of robbers.

I remember that time...was living in Ft. Worth then....it was all over the news. Amazingly, all the public awareness and several of the people being killed did NOT seem to stop, or even slow down the rate of hold ups. Yes, if I recall correctly, there was kinda a public score card kept of how many observation nights there were and how many people caught/killed.

You are correct, pulling the trigger while pointing at another human is HIGHLY likely to result in life changing events from legal processes and consequent costs, regardless of where the bullet goes...more if blood flows....regardless of self or property defense.