Your difficulty is that you are thinking about legal versus just. The law says you can't shoot a thief if he is fleeing. At this point the law often serves as an impediment to justice and as a juror you should consider that. I believe the thief's life was forfeit to the homeowner the instant he entered without permission.
Was he a danger? Was he threatening? Did he have a weapon? It’s a hard choice I know but again in this case he was attempting to flee. Now if it was a cop there’d be no argument but a homeowner for some reason is held to a higher standard. Just has no reasoning in this case. What is legal is what’s determined in court.
> Your difficulty is that you are thinking about legal versus just. The law says you can't shoot a thief if he is fleeing. At this point the law often serves as an impediment to justice and as a juror you should consider that. I believe the thief's life was forfeit to the homeowner the instant he entered without permission.
Actually, the Florida law here seems to permit the deadly shooting to prevent the completion of the forcible felony.