Thread: Grand jury could decide on Horn case this week, DA's office

June 16, 2008, 1:55PM

Grand jury could decide on Horn case this week, DA's office says

By BRIAN ROGERS
Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle

Comments (749)

Joe Horn, the Pasadena man who shot and killed two burglars after they emerged from his neighbor's home last year, regrets that decision, his attorney said today.

"Was it a mistake from a legal standpoint? No. But a mistake in his life? Yes," said Tom Lambright. "Because it's affected him terribly. And if he had it to do over again, he would stay inside.

"I don't think anybody can really appreciate the magnitude that something like this has on a person's personality."

He said Horn didn't expect to be involved in a shooting, but rather expected to see the two men running or driving away.

"He thought he was gathering evidence for the police department," Lambright said.

A Harris County grand jury has begun hearing evidence as it considers whether the 61-year-old retired grandfather should be indicted and face criminal charges, or be no-billed and have the case dismissed.

Lambright said he has not decided whether Horn should testify before the grand jury.

The panel could make a decision by the end of the week, a spokesman for the Harris County District Attorney's Office said.

Scott Durfee could not confirm anything about a possible grand jury presentation, including when or whether one was taking place, but said a resolution is "very likely by the end of the month" and "could be as early as the end of the week."

District Attorney Ken Magidson confirmed that the matter is pending before a grand jury, but he added: "The Code of Criminal Procedure directs that grand jury proceedings are secret."

Lambright said he expects the process to take several days.

Horn made national headlines after the Nov. 14 shooting, which took place after he called 911 to report the burglary and an operator told him to stay inside.

He went outside with a 12-gauge shotgun, however, and confronted the two men.

Investigators have said Horn acknowledged killing Diego Ortiz, 30, and Hernando Riascos Torres, 38.

Police said both were shot in the back as one moved toward Horn and then angled to the curb, while the other fled in the opposite direction.

Ortiz and Torres came out of the neighbor's house with a sack containing more than $2,000 in cash and jewelry taken from the home, police said.

Both were unemployed illegal immigrants from Colombia, and Torres previously had been deported once after going to prison for selling cocaine.

brian.rogers@chron.com

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/met ... 40087.html

It won't be long now. Either way, the nuts will be out in numbers. The link also has a video. Red and blue emphasis added by me.

Originally Posted by Kevin Quinn, KTRK TV 13 Houston (click masthead)

Grand jury considers Joe Horn case
Kevin Quinn, Thursday, June 19, 2008, 8:46 PM

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- A grand jury may be closer to making a decision on a case which brought a lot of heated reaction. How far is too far when it comes to protecting property? For the second day, a grand jury is looking into the case against Joe Horn, a man who shot and killed two people suspected of breaking into his neighbor's Pasadena home back in November. Horn has not been arrested or charged with any crime. The grand jury just began hearing evidence in this case Monday. The medical examiner's office ruled the deaths of Diego Ortiz and Hernando Torres homicides. The two men died after being hit when Horn allegedly fired his 12-gauge shotgun at them.

Horn's attorney, Tom Lambright, tells Eyewitness News that Horn would likely testify about the shootings if invited by the grand jury. He says there's a "good possibility" that Horn might testify. "They expect him to come down there to say 'I didn't mean to do this. I was trying to do my public duty. I really just told the police what was going on and I intended to go back into my house and forget about it'," said KTRK legal analyst Joel Androphy. "They know what to expect from him so that may be the reason they're not asking for it. But I anticipate by the end of day, they will." Lambright says, though, that neither he nor his client have received any such invitation to testify before the grand jury. He says Horn did what he thought he had to do at the time, that he regrets what happened. Scott Durfee, that spokesperson for the DA's office, says the grand jury will continue its review of the facts next week. Source (click here)