GJFlash's Blog

Score One for the Good Guys!

 

~~~  or   ~~~

 

I Wonder What RodeHog Would Say

 

Score one for the good guys (actually two in this case). 

 

By BRIAN ROGERS, RUTH RENDON and DALE LEZON
Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle

A Harris County grand jury on Monday ended the rancorous seven-month debate over Pasadena resident Joe Horn's decision to gun down two illegal immigrant burglars in his front yard, concluding the act was a justifiable use of deadly force and not murder.

The grand jury heard two weeks of testimony from witnesses, including Horn. They likely also heard his breathless 911 call, during which the increasingly frustrated retiree ignored a dispatcher's pleas to stay inside and out of harm's way. The Nov. 14 call ended with the sound of Horn racking a shell into his 12-gauge shotgun's chamber followed by three gunshots that killed Colombians Diego Ortiz, 30, and Hernando Riascos Torres, 38.

Each man was shot in the back. They had taken about $2,000 in the burglary.

Horn's defense hinged on his assertion that he fired out of fear for his life, making the shooting justifiable under Texas law. The law also permits the use of deadly force to protect property under some circumstances.

District Attorney Ken Magidson said he couldn't comment on the grand jury's secret proceedings.

"In Texas, a person has a right to use deadly force in certain circumstances to protect property ... and that's basically what the grand jurors had to deal with," Magidson said.

After the announcement, Horn's attorney said his 62-year-old client was no vigilante.

"Joe was not some sort of wild cowboy," Tom Lambright said. "He was trying to help police. He was put in a situation where he didn't have any choice."

Lambright said Horn was "relieved" the investigation was over and he was cleared. "When I talked to him on the telephone I could hear it in his voice — not giddy, just relieved."

Others decried the decision as a miscarriage of justice.

Frank Ortiz, a member of the local League of United Latin American Citizens chapter, said he hopes federal authorities investigate the case further.

"That's amazing that they would no-bill him with so much evidence against him," Ortiz said. "It's amazing to me that anyone with a Hispanic surname cannot get justice. This was no more than a vigilante."

 

We can go on all day about whether or not Mr. Horn did the right thing, because any freedom-loving fool can see that he did.  We are a nation of laws here in the good 'ole US of A, and the illegals really need to start accepting that fact.

My biggest problem with this story is the way it was reported by the "impartial" Associated Press.  In the AP version of the story, the reporter, a Mr. Juan A. Lozano, chose to embellish his version of events with outright lies.  In Mr. Lozano's version, the 911 call went something like this:

"Don't go outside the house," the 911 operator pleaded. "You're going to get yourself shot if you go outside that house with a gun. I don't care what you think."

"You want to make a bet?" Horn answered. "I'm going to kill them."

 

Now, I've been reading the actual transcript of the 911 call, and I'm not seeing anything that remotely matches those words.  So it looks to me like the AP is trying REAL HARD to convict this patriot after he's been found innocent. 

 

The media has a resonsibility to report the TRUTH.  To report the FACTS.  I mean, this AP weasel flat-out LIED.  He turned this patriot into a first-degree murderer, and I have yet to see anyone call him on it.

 

Someone should, and someone just did.

 

http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?section=news/loca
l&id=5538780

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gP3OsajRB6BM1On6
y5d66X8hodrwD91KVCD00