Boondoggie said:
Your propriety doesn't enter into this equation, unless someone is threatening your life or the life of another (usually another family member), say whilst in your property, you technically have no recourse. example, if you run out to find someone in you car about to drive off and you 'draw down on them' technically you are in the wrong, now if you shot, I think you would have a hard time explaining why, unless of course he was about to use your vehicle as a weapon that is..
Actually, in Texas, it is perfectly legal to kill someone (even if they are unarmed) in the process of stealing your car from in front of your house
if it's after dark. If the same situation happens in daylight, you'll be charged.
Some interesting points I'd like to throw in about that are:
1. I like it. While I would personally NOT kill someone to save my car, I am glad that in Texas, it is recognized to a certain extent that a citizen has the right to protect their property. In the UK, there are people in jail who were VICTIMS of home invasions and who defended themselves with deadly force to protect themselves and their family, and THEY were sent to jail.
For the moment, anyway, I live in a still free Texas.
2. Note that the law is literally a "night and day" difference. If you think about it, what's the difference between stopping the theft of your car with deadly force whether it happens at night or in daylight?
I think it comes back to the issue of legitimate self defense. At night and even if the thief is unarmed,
it's dark so you can't know that he's unarmed. The law gives the homeowner the benefit of the doubt because you have to assume the threat is there.
In daylight, you could see that the thief was unarmed therefore you are not legally allowed to use deadly force to just protect your car. Of course if it's daylight and you can see that the thief IS armed, you're back to the legality of using deadly force to counter a direct threat to your life (not to your car).
This is all fun to talk about, but I'd like to think that most people, like myself, would first immediately call 911, and then just stand in hiding with gun in hand (in case the thief decided to enter my house) watching my car drive off.
If my home is entered at night, all bets are off.
Carter