Thread: Horn tells grand jury about fatal shootings, his attorney sa

June 26, 2008, 7:51PM
Horn tells grand jury about fatal shootings, his attorney says

By BRIAN ROGERS
Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle

Pasadena resident Joe Horn testified Thursday in front of a Harris County grand jury about fatally shooting two suspected burglars as they fled his neighbor's home in November, his lawyer said.

"He was invited to testify and he was hopeful that he could tell his side of the story," attorney Tom Lambright said. "It was really traumatic for him to go back through all this again."

Lambright said the 62-year-old retiree testified for about an hour and a half.

The grand jury is hearing the case which has drawn national attention and public debate over whether the shooting was justifiable.

Earlier Thursday, a community activist also went to the downtown criminal courthouse with family members of the dead men.

Quanell X said he brought Stephanie Storey in his effort to make sure that Horn is indicted for the Nov. 14 shootings. A woman whom he identified as the widow of the other man also was there, and the three left together a short time later.

Thursday's testimony capped the second week of hearing evidence in the case for grand jurors who work two days a week.

Storey has said she was the fiancee of Hernando Riascos Torres, whom Horn shot along with Diego Ortiz after confronting them outside a neighbor's house.

Quanell X advised Storey not to comment to the media. He said Storey has not been invited to appear before the grand jury, but that he wanted to make her available to the panel. She did not testify.

He did not say how he thought her testimony could benefit the investigation into the shooting.

The activist added that, if grand jurors decide not to indict Horn, they will be sending a message to the nation "that Houston is the wild, wild West."

"Nobody approves of what these two men were doing when they were murdered," he said. "We condemn that. But we also condemn any man who takes the law into his own hands as judge, jury and executioner."

Horn shot the two men with a 12-gauge shotgun after reporting to a 911 operator that he had heard glass breaking at his neighbor's home in the 7400 block of Timberline. The operator instructed him not to confront the men, saying police were on the way, but Horn went outside.

Moments later, he was recorded on the 911 tape saying, "Move and you're dead." Gunshots then were heard.

Ortiz, 30, and Torres, 38, who were unemployed illegal immigrants from Colombia, died at the scene.

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.

brian.rogers@chron.com

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/met ... 59000.html

June 26, 2008, 11:42AM
Harris County grand jury takes up Joe Horn case again

By BRIAN ROGERS
Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle

As a Harris County grand jury resumed hearing testimony today in the case of Pasadena resident Joe Horn, a community activist came to the downtown criminal courthouse with the former fiancee of one of the suspected burglars Horn killed.

Quanell X said he brought Stephanie Storey in his effort to make sure that Horn is indicted for the Nov. 14 shootings. A woman whom he identified as the widow of the other man also was there, and the three left together a short time later.

Storey has said she was the fiancee of Hernando Riascos Torres, whom Horn shot along with Diego Ortiz after confronting them outside a neighbor's house.

The shooting took place in the 7400 block of Timberline.

Quanell X advised Storey not to comment to the media. He said Storey has not been invited to appear before the grand jury, but that he wanted to make her available to the panel.

He did not say how he thought her testimony could benefit the investigation into the shooting.

The activist added that, if grand jurors decide not to indict Horn, they will be sending a message to the nation "that Houston is the wild, wild West."

If Horn is not indicted, Quanell X said, he will lead a protest march that begins at Horn's home.

Horn shot the two men with a 12-gauge shotgun after reporting to a 911 operator that he had heard glass breaking at his neighbor's home. The operator instructed him not to confront the men, saying police were on the way, but Horn went outside.

Moments later, he was recorded on the 911 tape saying, "Move and you're dead." Gunshots then were heard.

Ortiz, 30, and Torres, 38, who were unemployed illegal immigrants from Colombia, died at the scene.

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.

Horn's attorney, Tom Lambright, said recently that the 62-year-old retiree probably would testify before the grand jury if he is invited.

brian.rogers@chron.com

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/side/5857710.html

Joe Horn killed two men Nov. 14 after reporting a break-in at his neighbor's home.
Family photo



June 17, 2008, 3:11AM
Grand jury could decide on Horn case this week

By BRIAN ROGERS
Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle

Your reaction: "What a waste of time and taxpayer money" 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 Monday as a Harris County grand jury began hearing evidence in the case.

"Was it a mistake from a legal standpoint? No. But a mistake in his life? Yes," said defense lawyer 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."

Horn's decision to ignore a 911 operator's advice to stay inside and instead confront and fatally wound two men he saw burglarizing a neighbor's home on Nov. 14 made him the subject of national media scrutiny.

Lambright said Horn, 62, 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.

Autopsies of Diego Ortiz, 30, and Hernando Riascos Torres, 38, two unemployed illegal immigrants from Colombia, revealed they died from wounds inflicted by Horn's 12-gauge shotgun. 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.

Horn caught them leaving the neighbor's house with a sack containing more than $2,000 in cash and jewelry, police said.

A Harris County grand jury has begun hearing evidence as it considers whether the 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 will testify before the grand jury. Horn has been invited to tell his side of the story, but his attorney would not be allowed in the room.

"He's upbeat," Lambright said. "But he would like to have this case behind him."

Lambright also said Horn now remembers more about the incident.

"A lot of it was a blur when it first happened."

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 would not confirm anything about a possible grand jury presentation, including when or whether one is 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."

Durfee has said scientific testing, including autopsies, delayed the grand jury presentation.

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."

brian.rogers@chron.com

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

Dec. 5, 2007, 7:14PM
In Horn case, self-defense isn't so clear


By LISA FALKENBERG
Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle

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There seems to be some confusion here. Joe Horn is not a hero.

The Pasadena homeowner certainly had a chance to be a hero, but he gave up that opportunity as soon as he allowed fear, adrenaline, suburban angst, Old West entitlement or all of the aforementioned to overwhelm his ability to think rationally and consider the consequences of his actions.

Let's imagine, for a moment, that the whole ordeal had turned out differently, that after the 61-year-old computer consultant called 911 to report a burglary next door on that November afternoon, he had followed the dispatcher's advice and stayed safely inside his house.

He still could have provided descriptions of the bad guys and let police know which way they were fleeing. He could have stood guard, loaded shotgun in hand, just in case the burglars preyed on his house next.

The headlines could have portrayed him as vigilant rather than vigilante: "Homeowner helps nab burglars," or "Hometown hero praised for being good neighbor."


Ignored pleadings
Most importantly, Miguel Antonio DeJesus, 38, and Diego Ortiz, 30, both of Houston, would still be alive.

But Horn didn't stay inside. He ignored the dispatcher's pleadings, grabbed his shotgun and charged out the front door to confront DeJesus and Ortiz, after uttering damning statements like "I'm not going to let them get away with it," and "I'm gonna kill them."

Horn's attorney and longtime friend Tom Lambright argues that his client acted in self-defense, that he thought he saw the alleged burglars lunging at him. Really? If the bad guys were armed only with a crowbar — the only weapon Horn mentions in the 911 call — would they really be lunging at a large man wielding a 12-gauge shotgun?

It will be up to a Harris County grand jury to decide whether Horn's actions were criminal.

Although a Texas law allows citizens to use deadly force to protect neighbors' property, some experts say the statute only applies to nighttime incidents.


Race muddies issue
Meanwhile, Horn has had to flee to an undisclosed location to escape the media attention. And Quanell X and cohorts are staging protests outside his house in an attempt to brand him a racist. Horn's supporters, some armed with a fleet of revving motorcycles, staged a dueling demonstration over the weekend.

I agree with the Horn supporters on one point: the race debate only muddies the issue. There's no reason to believe his actions were racially motivated.

But I am confounded by the rah-rah zeal with which some armchair vigilantes have celebrated Horn's actions. Some readers' comments on the Houston Chronicle Web site suggest the burglars "deserved what they got." Last time I checked, the penalty for burglary didn't include death.

At the demonstration, hundreds had signed the back of signs that seemed to suggest getting trigger-happy with a shotgun is as Texan as bluebonnets or the Lone Star flag.

"We're just citizens standing up for another citizen who chose to protect himself," said one demonstrator.

On some level, I understand the urge of residents overwhelmed and frustrated with crime to hold up Horn as a hero. He's the guy who fought back.

But Horn's isn't a clear case of self-defense. If it were, his name would be as unfamiliar to you as Gerald Lynn Southworth.

Southworth, a 60-year-old Porter property owner, also used his gun to fatally shoot someone he suspected of stealing. But Southworth's story a few days ago didn't grab national headlines. It was buried on Page B3 of this paper. Why? Because it appeared Southworth really was defending his own property.


Contrasting shootings
Southworth had reported thefts from his address two days before and had stayed overnight to guard his property. The suspect was still lying on Southworth's lawn when authorities arrived.

Still, these two men have something in common. When it was all over, neither seemed proud of what he'd done.

Horn was "devastated" and in need of a sedative after the shooting, Lambright said. A statement Horn issued said the killings would "weigh heavily on me for the rest of my life. My thoughts go out to the loved ones of the deceased."

Southworth had to be taken to the hospital because of chest pains after the shooting.

"I am sorry as hell," Southworth told KTRK (Channel 13). "I just wished there had been another way to resolve this."

In Horn's case, there was a better way. He just refused to take it.

lisa.falkenberg@chron.com

Dec. 13, 2007, 11:03AM
COMMENTARY
Falkenberg: Property outweighing people in Horn case

By LISA FALKENBERG
Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle

In Joe Horn's now-infamous 911 call reporting the burglary of his neighbor's home last month, there's a particularly disturbing refrain that made many of us cringe.

"I'm not going to let them get away with this," the Pasadena homeowner tells the dispatcher several times in various ways in the moments before he shot to death the two burglars, Miguel Antonio DeJesus, 28, and Diego Ortiz, 30.

To many of us, Horn's preoccupation with stopping the crime and recovering the stolen property — "a bag of loot," as Horn described it — seemed irrational and vengeful rather than heroic.

We agreed with the dispatcher, who repeatedly pleaded with the 61-year-old computer consultant to keep himself and his shotgun safe inside his own house while police headed to the scene.

"Ain't no property worth shooting somebody over," the dispatcher told Horn.


Property vs. human life
Human life is worth more than property. It seems like a universal truth. But apparently not in Texas, or other states with similar laws.


Over the past week, I've researched the Texas Penal Code and discovered some provisions that were surprising even to this fifth-generation Texan.

The law of our land seems to place more value on the property being stolen — even if it belongs to a neighbor — than on the life of the burglar stealing it.

A review of our state's protection-of-property statutes suggests that Horn's repeated declarations about not letting the burglars "get away with it" may be the words that ultimately set him free.

If Horn doesn't get indicted, don't blame the grand jury. And don't blame Harris County District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal. Blame the section of Chapter 9 of the Penal Code that deals with protection of property.


Justifiable homicide
Under the section, which has been in place at least since 1973, a person is justified in using deadly force to protect a neighbor's property from burglary if the person "reasonably believes" deadly force is immediately necessary to stop the burglars from escaping with the stolen property. It's also justified if the shooter "reasonably believes" that "the land or property cannot be protected or recovered by any other means."


Now, one might argue that, since the dispatcher told Horn that police were on their way, Horn should have reasonably believed authorities would nab the bad guys.

But the escalating anxiety in Horn's voice as he sees the burglars emerge from his neighbor's window with the goods, and his reiteration that "they're getting away" moments before he fires his 12-gauge may indicate to a grand jury that Horn didn't believe police would arrive in time.

Rosenthal wouldn't discuss the particulars of the Horn case, which he is still waiting to receive from Pasadena police. And police haven't revealed all the facts. A police spokesman disclosed last week that, according to a plainclothes detective who witnessed the Nov. 14 shootings, Horn shot the two men in the back after they'd ventured into his front yard.

The fact that they were on his yard may provide Horn with even more protection.

Rosenthal said he won't let the controversy surrounding the case influence his office's handling of it.

And the prosecutor won't make a recommendation to the grand jury, which Rosenthal said is standard for such cases.

"We'll take it to a grand jury; we'll present it straight up, and whatever the grand jury does, we'll follow it. And if they decide they want to indict the guy, we'll handle it and we'll suffer the slings and arrows, but that's part of the territory," Rosenthal said.

Even if they don't indict him, it doesn't mean Horn's actions were morally right. He chose to kill; he didn't have to. His own life and property were not in danger until he confronted the burglars.

There's a difference between what we can do and what we should do. Without careful judgment and discretion, the law can be a dangerous thing.

The same law that may protect Horn from indictment could also protect someone who, in the dark of night, discovers a group of teenage girls wrapping his front yard trees with toilet paper.

To a rational person, this is a harmless prank. Under Texas law, in a world without discretion, the girls are engaging in criminal mischief and the homeowner would be justified in mowing them down with a shotgun.

lisa.falkenberg@chron.com

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/met ... 74078.html