Joe Horn?

adios · #1 11-19-2007, 01:41 PM

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When people usurp this kind of power from government, the government comes down hard and with a vengeance IMO.

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Wait a minute... Since when do the people get their authority from the Govt? It's my understanding that since the people created the Govt, then the Govt gets it's authority from the people. Not vice versa.

/hijack

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Apparently he thought he had authority from the government to shoot these guys.

DVaut1 · #2 11-19-2007, 01:50 PM

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Apparently he thought he had authority from the government to shoot these guys.

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FWIW, this is going to be a key point if this guy every gets charged and it goes to trial.

Horn's defense attorney will attempt to paint him as a good-Samaritan who was confused about the law, was scared/emotional, feared for his own safety, and made a completely understandable decision 'real' Americans can empathize with, even if it crossed a line.

I'm sure the prosecution will do just the opposite -- attempt to paint Horn as a wild-eyed vigilante who informed the dispatcher of his intent to kill the guys (rather than just try to deter them from robbing the house) and had multiple opportunities to reconsider his actions -- to contradict the defense's claim it was just a "heat of the moment" decision.

I suspect it will depend on whether or not the jury believes this guy was just a confused old man who behaved righteously and perhaps even had am ambiguous law on his side, or if they think he was a hothead cowboy with a gun looking for a reason to shoot some petty criminals who didn't deserve it and posed no physical threat to him.

adios · #3 11-19-2007, 02:21 PM

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FWIW, this is going to be a key point if this guy every gets charged and it goes to trial. ....

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Yeah it might not go to a criminal trial. Even if it doesn't it may go court in a civil trial though. I think this one will have a criminal trial. If Horn cops a plea it would seem that it would hurt him in a civil case. Horn may be "judgement proof" though, don't know. If they decide not to charge him I'd really like to understand why but I'll probably concede that I was way wrong (they could have had guns or knives that we don't know about).