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Theft is not a reason to kill,...
That really depends on one's own perspective, morals, and the law. As noted, at least one state in the US allows for the use of lethal force to protect property under the right conditions.
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I did not make the rules concerning the use of lethal force, I just enforced them for a while, tried to stay alive while doing that, and testified in court about it quite a bit as we had a lot of killings in my home town while I wore a badge.[/QUOTE]
Then your legal training on all US law was lacking, wasn't it? Fortunately, you were never queried on your understanding of all US whilst on the stand or you would have been discredited. Hopefully, nobody ever was wrongfully convicted by your testimony.
Well, all I can say is that there are always exceptions to any rule. That Texas allows you to shoot a felon after dark is an aberration in general law that I have never encountered previously. I will still say with a pretty good level of confidence that if you shoot someone who is stealing from you, not someone who is also threatening your life while he is stealing from you, you are in very dangerous territory. I made an arrest of a man who shot an unarmed criminal who was stealing his 750cc Honda, and under California law I had to arrest him. The DA pressed for voluntary manslaughter and won a conviction. The citizen was rewarded with 3 to 5 in prison. But, there are exceptions. I also handled a case where a 65 year old disabled widow shot and killed an unarmed 23 year old burglar who had a multiple violent felony sheet, and the DA chose not to prosecute as the perp presented sufficient threat of physical harm to the lady that her act was considered justified. After a handcuffed prisoner fell on me and broke my back for the second time and I had to end my law enforcement career, a large Hispanic man dressed in nothing but jockey shorts and wielding a machete broke into our house at 0330. Mary Ann called 911, and I confronted him and ordered him to drop the weapon and leave. He grunted something unintelligible and advanced on me. I told him to stop or I would kill him. He took one more step and raised his weapon and I shot him twice in the chest with a S&W Model 19 and CCI 125 gn Lawman ammo. The paramedics pronounced him dead on the scene. Despite the circumstances and my previous career I was still taken into custody, cuffed, and taken to the PD; but was released 6 hours later. I still hired a lawyer, who represented me in my subsequent meetings with an Assistant District Attorney. There were no charges filed. Despite that, I still expected a civil suit from the intruders family. Fortunately, the man was never identified; not by prints, facial, DNA, even reaching out to Interpol, nothing to this day. I had to have a company come in and remove and bag out my family room carpet as blood soaked carpet is hazardous waste; another $1200 outlay. I did, after 2 years, get my Model 19 back. I had been involved in shootings in the Navy in the Mekong Delta, and with the PD, but this one hit me especially hard. I had nightmares about what had happened for months, and had to seek counseling. That helped a great deal, but I never felt safe at night in that house until we put up bars on the windows and steel gates over the sliding glass doors. I still have occasional nightmares where I have to watch that poor idiot spasm and spit out his last breath in my house, and listen to my wife cry as the cops took me away. I had absolutely no choice, but if tonight I catch someone stealing my Corolla from my driveway, I'm calling 911 and letting the cops deal with it. I worked long and hard to buy that car, but it is not worth shooting and watching another criminal idiot die by my hand over it.
