[muawiyah]

At the same time the dead guy is dead AND since he was obviously on his way home to his sister's house nearby there's a darned good question about any criminal intent he might have had.

Sure, he was in the wrong house BUT was he there to commit any sort of crime.

I think the prosecutor is trying to send a message to some in the community that you can't just kill a guy for wandering around drunk ~ you have to have a reason beyond that.

My goodness, even the cops can't get away with that one all the time so why should a civilian think he can.

[yefragetuwrabrumuy]

No, there’s a problem there. Intent of the dead guy doesn’t matter, because there is no easy way for the homeowner to divine intent, instead having to rely on circumstances.

This goes all the way back to ancient Biblical law, that reasoned that it is justified to kill a thief in your home *at night*, but not during the day, which makes sense from several directions.