TWO GOOD ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS --- GOOD AND DEAD !

Grand Jury Clears Texas Man Who Fatally Shot Burglars
09:32 PM CDT on Monday, June 30, 2008
The Associated Press

HOUSTON – A suburban Houston homeowner was cleared by a grand jury Monday for fatally shooting two men burglarizing his neighbor's home.

Joe Horn, 62, shot the men in November after he saw them crawling out the windows of a neighbor's house in the Houston suburb of Pasadena, carrying bags of the neighbor's possessions.

Mr. Horn, a retired grandfather, called 911 and told the dispatcher he had a shotgun and was going to kill them. The dispatcher pleaded with him not to go outside, but Mr. 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.

Mr. Horn's attorney, Tom Lambright, said his client was relieved by the grand jury's decision and never wanted to hurt anyone.

"He wasn't trying to take matters into his own hands," Lambright said. "He was scared. He was not playing cowboy."

Mr. Horn did not speak with reporters Monday.

A large, red no-trespassing sign blocked the path to his front door, and a handwritten sign on the door said "Please no media," "No Trespassing" and "Do not knock or ring bell." A couple of neighbors also had signs on their doors asking media to leave them alone.

A few police cars patrolled the area near Mr. Horn's home.

Mr. Lambright reiterated that Mr. Horn believed the two men had broken into his neighbor's home and that he shot them out of fear for his life when they came into his yard and threatened him.

"He wasn't acting like a vigilante," Mr. Lambright said. "He was well within his rights to do what he was doing."

The two suspected burglars, Hernando Riascos Torres, 38, and Diego Ortiz, 30, were unemployed illegal immigrants from Colombia. Mr. Torres was deported to Colombia in 1999 after a 1994 cocaine-related conviction.

The incident touched off protests from civil-rights activists who said the shooting was racially motivated and that Mr. Horn took the law into his own hands. Mr. 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," Mr. 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."

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.