[Widget Jr]

For self defense to be legal, the "mantle of innocence" must be maintained. The person killed was a father who had court approved visitation rights - he had the legal right to visit his kid. The mother was not complying with the court order and refused visitation. Then the boyfriend got the gun, when he had to know the visitation was legal.

The mother and boyfriend knew the father had legal rights, denied them, then escalated immediately to lethal force. A determined prosecutor could have made a murder charge out of this.

[throwthebumsout]

If a father’s visitation rights are being violated it is a legal matter to be handled by the court. The father tried to physically force his legal right on his own, which is not OK. The child wasn’t even there, so even from that perspective the father had no legal right to be there.

[bigbob]

sounds like you need to brush up on Texas law there, counsellor...

[RightOnTheBorder]

I would argue the property owner did not arm himself or shoot in order to prevent the ex husband from exercising his custody rights but rather to protect his person against a clearly agitated trespasser.

[BiglyCommentary]

That’s kook legal theory. Just because you have legal visitation rights does not mean you can charge into someone’s house. Your only legal option if denied is to file a complaint in court.