Texas justice

The urge to kill neighbors who blast high-decibel rock across the block is understandable. It is not defensible, and a jury in Texas got it right.

Danaher was part of a loud party in the wee hours. Rodriguez got a gun, walked onto Danaher's driveway and, after a long and moronic argument fueled by the demon rum, shot him dead.

He claimed self-defense under the Texas stand-your-ground law.  The jury disagreed, even after learning that Danaher and some of his partying pals added their own boozy stupidity to the fracas.

Ladies and Gentlemen, when we initiate a confrontation, intrude on our neighbor's property, and then kill him we are not "standing our ground."  We are  behaving like an especially stupid asshole who misses the whole point of self-defense statutes.

Their purpose is to permit lethal response to a gratuitous threat of lethal force. It is a doctrine designed to allow you to preserve your life, not your ego.

Nor even your right to be free of 100-decibel juvie music intruding on your sleep.  That's a job for the cops.

This guilty verdict should sustain the arguments for stand-your-ground by making the point clearer. It becomes part of the case law, and we ought to cite it freely when ever we are contesting the issue with the dupes of Ste. Sarah.