Joe Horn, the infamous neighbor in Pasadena TX who shot two suspected burglars in the back in broad daylight last November, has been cleared by a Texas Grand Jury.
According to the Houston Chronicle, Horn "confronted" two men who had allegedly broken into a neighbor's house. Horn had called 911 where his conversation with the operator had been taped:
“Move,” Horn can be heard saying on the tape. “You’re dead.”
Boom.
Click.
Boom.
Click.
Boom.
Horn redialed 911 and told the dispatcher what he’d done.
“I had no choice,” he said, his voice shaking. “They came in the front yard with me, man. I had no choice. Get somebody over here quick.” [1]
The two men were here in the country illegally, one of them had spent time in an American prison for dealing coke and then was deported back to Columbia in 1999.
Horn's attorney, Tom Lambright, claims his client was "gathering evidence for the police department" when he went outside with a 12-gauge shotgun, despite the 911 operator repeatedly telling him to stay inside. Lambright also said the incident had affected his client's life, but probably not as much as the lives of the two men who were mowed down in Horn's front yard.
Horn claims he warned the men to "freeze" and then had to shoot them. But were the two really a threat when he shot the two in the back, killing both men?
A Pasadena plainsclothes detective had arrived on the scene moments before Horn "confronted" the two men as they left his neighbor's house heading for the street. The detective said the "confrontation" was over in "seconds" and that he was afraid Horn was going to mistake him for the "wheel" man and shoot him too.
After the two men were shot dead by Horn, their only crime, allegedly breaking and entering his neighbor's home while the neighbor was away, the debate centered over whether Horn should be charged for using deadly force.
The Harris County Grand Jury held hearings for a two week period before finally ruling today that Horn should not face any charges.
By LBG
Source - Houston Chronicle - Joe Horn cleared by grand jury in Pasadena shootings
Source - DBKP - Joe Horn: Two Dead Men Tell No Tales
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