In Texas, 'stand your ground' case leads to murder conviction

HOUSTON -- A retired Houston-area firefighter could face life in prison after a jury convicted him Wednesday of murder in the shooting of an unarmed neighbor, rejecting his "stand your ground" defense.

The trial's punishment phase is scheduled to begin Thursday.

During the trial, Raul Rodriguez, 47, argued that he was protected under Texas' self-defense law when he killed neighbor Kelly Danaher two years ago.

Rodriguez, angry about a noisy birthday party at Danaher's home, went over to his neighbor's house, according to testimony and court documents. He got into an argument with Danaher, a 36-year-old elementary school teacher, and two other men at the party.

Rodriguez’s attorneys did not present any witnesses in his defense. But in a 22-minute video Rodriguez recorded the night of the shooting, he can be heard telling a police dispatcher: "My life is in danger now" and "These people are going to go try and kill me." He then said, "I'm standing my ground here," and shot Danaher after somebody appeared to grab his camera.

The case is among the first to test a "stand your ground" defense in the wake of the death of Florida teenager Trayvon Martin.
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Texas' Castle Doctrine, revised in 2007, allows people to defend not only their homes with deadly force, but their workplaces and vehicles. Under the law, a person using force to defend himself or herself can't provoke their attacker or be involved in criminal activity.

Prosecutors argued that Rodriguez couldn’t cite the law in his defense because he provoked the confrontation at the party and attacked someone who was unarmed, which is a crime.
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"Self-defense was never meant to protect the one who started the fight," prosecutor Donna Logan told the jury, according to the Houston Chronicle.

"Self-defense was never meant to protect the one who started the fight," prosecutor Donna Logan told the jury, according to the Houston Chronicle

Not a lot of info, but it seems a bit of a stretch to walk over to your neighbors house, start some sh** because their party is too loud, and then run back to your own property just to shoot them.

I mean, does someone really think the 'birthday boy' is going to 'kill you' because you asked them to turn down the radio?

Not a lot of info, but it seems a bit of a stretch to walk over to your neighbors house, start some sh** because their party is too loud, and then run back to your own property just to shoot them.

I mean, does someone really think the 'birthday boy' is going to 'kill you' because you asked them to turn down the radio?

So it seems incidents such as these are encouraged by 'stand your ground' laws, as people such as this guy believe they can kill someone they've provoked.

The article I read yesterday (I didn't decide to post it because it would turn into another Martin thread), stated the firefighter had a gun on him, went over to confront/provoke the people about the loud noise. It was one of the people at the party who mentioned going back for their gun (it was unclear if they actually did though).

The shooting started when someone reached for the camera.

NO! The laws are strict in nature and you have to prove your case according to the law.

Depends on the state. AFAIK, SYG in FL says the state has to prove that you didn't act in self-defense.