How would you respond to this case ?

Issue 1:

Based on the reading above, the District Attorney should charge Joe with murder. Joe would have to provide an affirmative defense. According to Texas Penal Code Section 9.41- Protection of One's Property (public law) - an individual can use reasonable force to protect their property. It also states that deadly force is not justifiable solely for property protection. Joe left his vehicle unattended briefly. Even though it was believed that Joe was thinking of Texas Penal Code Section 9.42, that is, believed that force is immediately necessary to prevent imminent danger, there were no actions toward him that were being taken by the thief.

Joe had every right to protect his car from being stolen, it was not justifiable to use deadly force towards this thief. Joe could have shot at the tires to disable the vehicle; it was not necessary to shoot multiple shots into the vehicle. There was no indication that a gun was being pointed at Joe or that the suspect was not using the vehicle to drive towards him to cause bodily harm. No car windows were being lowered to try to shoot at Joe. This is why we are required to have car insurance to cover unexpected incidents like this.

Issue 2

I think Joe should be charged with second degree murder.Countless times we see that a person has been killed from nonthreatening life events. We kill first and ask questions later.Recently in the news, two teenagers were looking for a place to take senior pictures.They were parked outside the man's property.They were writing a note to see if they could take pictures on his property and to give them a call. The homeowner pulled up in his car, exited his vehicle, and began to shoot into the teen's car injuring them badly.He was in no imminent danger, and the kids were doing the respectful thing to do - ask to utilize his property.

In the case of Joe, if someone is stealing your car, this is a material thing that could be replaced. A person's life can't.If you are given the option to shoot to injure versus shoot to kill, we would have people learning valuable life lessons.Acquire your own stuff legally. Many families would not be mourning the death of their loved ones, and the owners would not be serving sentences for simply protecting their property.