"Justifiable Homicides" Are on the Rise: Have Self-Defense Laws Gone Too Far?

One year ago today, a 61-year old Texan named Joe Horn looked out his window in Pasadena, just outside of Houston, and saw a pair of black men on his neighbor's property. It appeared to be a burglary in action, so he called 911. But as he described what he saw to the emergency dispatcher, he began to get agitated. The police would take too long to get there, he decided. Instead, he'd stop the crime himself.

"I've got a shotgun," Horn told the 911 dispatcher. "You want me to stop him?"

The dispatcher tried to talk him down. "Nope, don't do that," he told Horn. "Ain't no property worth shooting somebody over, OK?"

It was not OK with Horn. With the dispatcher still on the phone, he grabbed his gun, went outside, yelled, "Move, you're dead!" -- and shot the two men in the back.

The victims turned out to be two undocumented immigrants from Colombia, Diego Ortiz and Miguel de Jesus. Both died on the scene.

The killings sparked instant controversy nationwide, with some labeling it a deplorable act of vigilante justice, and others calling Horn a hero for defending his neighbor's property. Because the victims were in the country illegally, the controversy was further fueled by the ugly, ongoing fight over immigration. Protesters who arrived on Horn's block to call for justice for his victims were met with counterprotesters waving signs in support of their neighbor. "Once again, our chaotic immigration system has led to death," Bill O'Reilly fumed on Dec. 6, 2007.

This summer, Horn was officially cleared of wrongdoing, when a grand jury failed to indict him on any charges. The decision was met with dismay by the families of Ortiz and de Jesus. Diamond Morgan, Ortiz's widow, will now raise their infant son without him. "It's horrible," she said about the 911 recording. "(Horn) was so eager, so eager to shoot." "This man took the law into his own hands," Stephanie Storey, de Jesus' fiancee, told reporters. "He shot two individuals in the back after having been told over and over to stay inside. It was his choice to go outside and his choice to take two lives."

But Horn and his attorney claimed that in addition to protecting his neighbor's home, he was acting in self-defense. "He was afraid for his life," his lawyer, Tom Lambright argued. " … I don't think Joe had time to make a conscious decision. I think he only had time to react to what was going on. Short answer is, he was defending his life. "

But the 9/11 recording tells a different story:

Horn: He's coming out the window right now, I gotta go, buddy. I'm sorry, but he's coming out the window.

Dispatcher: Don't, don't -- don't go out the door. Mr. Horn? Mr. Horn?

Horn: They just stole something. I'm going after them, I'm sorry.

Dispatcher: Don't go outside. 

Horn: I ain't letting them get away with this shit. They stole something. They got a bag of something.

Dispatcher: Don't go outside the house.

Horn: I'm doing this.

Dispatcher: Mr. Horn, do not go outside the house.

Horn: I'm sorry. This ain't right, buddy.

Dispatcher: You're going to get yourself shot if you go outside that house with a gun, I don't care what you think.

Horn: You want to make a bet?

Dispatcher: OK? Stay in the house.

Horn: They're getting away!

Dispatcher: That's all right. Property's not worth killing someone over, OK?

Horn: (curses)

Dispatcher: Don't go out the house. Don't be shooting nobody. I know you're pissed and you're frustrated, but don't do it.

Horn: They got a bag of loot.

Dispatcher: OK. How big is the bag? … Which way are they going?

Horn: I'm going outside. I'll find out.

Dispatcher: I don't want you going outside, Mr. Horn.

Horn: Well, here it goes, buddy. You hear the shotgun clicking and I'm going.

Dispatcher: Don't go outside.

Horn: (yelling) Move, you're dead!

(Sound of shots being fired)