Smith found guilty

IMO

Smith got the wrong charge. It should have been VOLUNTARY manslaughter. here is my rationale. Being fully prepared for the next illegal act by someone else isn’t a crime. it is legal to use deadly force on someone that breaks and enters your home. Pre-meditation CANNOT involve requiring someone else CHOOSING to break the law. If Smith had hunt down those kids and shot them on their lawn/walmart/cub foods then it was Pre-meditated murder.

Had he done all the preparation that he did and just plainly shot those kids dead upon entering the house then I believe he would have committed no crime.

His crime was subdueing those kids and then playing exicutioner. there is no place in society for that. I don’t care how far RIGHT you reside and I am pretty RIGHT. (and by RIGHT, I don’t mean correct).

IMHO

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Jury was wrong. They came into his house for the sole purpose of robbing him.Your home is your sanctuary.

Had they chosen to stay at home they would be alive today.

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X2, Agree.

I further state that if they had been any of my children, I would have asked the County Attorney to Not Prosecute Byron Smith. They broke into his home, uninvited with the sole apparent purpose of burglary to steal Guns, Cash, Prescription Drugs, etc. Yes, I’d be sad they turned from how they were taught & brought up, but they have Free Will.

He should have used a larger caliber gun, but then his shotgun was stolen along with multiple other items including prescription drugs in one of the previous burglaries. With that all said, IMHO, he was mentally unstable, fearful for his own life and scared from the previous burglaries along with a large dose of stupidity.

Just another thought, had he just severely wounded these young Vermin/Criminals, incapacitating them for Life, then he would have been sued for everything he has to support their care for the rest of their lives.

I’d like to see after the fact how anyone of you, after having this happen to you, how you would feel. Until it does happen to you, where you and your personal property have been violated, you won’t know how you would feel.

Take it for what it’s worth, but that’s my opinion,

Right or Wrong as it may be!

P.S.: I am sure I’ll be crucified for my Opinion.

i don’t agree with you Stuart in taking out other family members. btu I am sure you don’t really care what I think.

On a side note: If anyone touches my boys in any sick way (not talking fist fight here), you can bet I will spend the rest of my days hunting you down and you will die. I know this sounds like tuff guy talk but i swear I will have a say on your life.

Everybody have a nice day!

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He was guilty, but from what I heard, it sounded like he was mentally unstable. Wheather it was the constant break ins that pushed him over the edge or what, I don’t know, but he didn’t seem or act sane.

Grouse

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Without a doubt the guy was not mentally stable. Mentally stable people don’t do what he did.

If the kids who broke in had survived they would deserve punishment, but certainly not the type of punishment this guy deserves.

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Give me the chance and I would shoot the guys that did this to her and all of their family members,afterwards I would light their corpses on fire and dance a jubilant dance of retribution. (and record it)

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I am so glad to live in a society where this kind of response to a break in isn’t tolerated.

^^ and he didn’t even get banned.

Being Banned is different than being committed. With his rationale, it would never stop. Keep killing innocent family members, who then have their extended family, kill yours and so on and so on and so on…. Who would agree with that logic ?

The Hatfield’s and McCoy’s agreed with that logic. There is a reason why you can’t, or would be hard pressed, to find another situation like that in the modern day era. We have grown into a more respectable United States.

Well most of us have…..

If those “kids” had not committed felony breaking and entering and burglery, I would think he would still be sitting in his basement with a loaded gun minding his own business. Last time I checked that was perfectly legal. I do it all the time….. In states like Texas, he may well have received an award from the Sheriff Dept.

-J.

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I understand both side of the argument, I’m surprised by how quick it was decided. I also agree with the decision.

Byron Smith

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I would ask,
How would this case played out by the Police/Sheriff Investigator’s, the County Attorney & Society had the VERMIN/CRIMINAL’S been “Non-White”, say Black, Hispanic, American Indian, etc.?

I think this would have have been an entirely different outcome.

I also believe this case would not even had been prosecuted had this been in Oklahoma or Texas!

Once again, Just my opinion!
Something we’ll never really know for sure!

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I understand both side of the argument, I’m surprised by how quick it was decided. I also agree with the decision.

Byron Smith

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I would ask,
How would this case played out by the Police/Sheriff Investigator’s, the County Attorney & Society had the VERMIN/CRIMINAL’S been “Non-White”, say Black, Hispanic, American Indian, etc.?

I think this would have have been an entirely different outcome.

I also believe this case would not even had been prosecuted had this been in Oklahoma or Texas!

Once again, Just my opinion!
Something we’ll never really know for sure!

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I don’t agree with your race card angle. I’m sure you could get Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton to jump on your band wagon though. Given the same evidence, I don’t care what color the kids were or what state this happened in, the jury would have come to the same conclusion.

I believe this case will be turned over on appeal.

-J.

I agree. Race would have nothing to do with the outcome. I still don’t think what he did was proper but I don’t feel sorry for the thieving victims.

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I believe this case will be turned over on appeal.

-J.

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It’s the first degree that I wonder about, if that angle opens the door to an appeal. I can’t see how you can premeditate a break in of your own home?

I wonder why they didn’t play the insanity card?

I can see where a guy who had to endure constant breakins by these two dirtball thieves would be driven to the edge. Or over the edge.

The whole situation was a cluster.

Grouse

Exactly. The first degree charge is wrong. The second degree does not apply either. This is a first or second degree manslaughter case. Shakey at best. You have no obligation to use self defense as a reason. If there person broke in, you can shoot first and ask questions later. This is in your own home, not walking down the street for crying out loud!

-J.

I agree with everything you mentioned Jon.

But a person still needs to render aid once the threat is stopped…and not a fatal bullet.

Just me and the way I roll I guess.

Like I said, bad choice of firearm. .44 mag and the guy probably would not have even been arrested.

-J.

Good point.

Never shoot to kill or maim. Shoot to stop the threat.

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Like I said, bad choice of firearm. .44 mag and the guy probably would not have even been arrested.
-J.

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^ that … and … he shot too slow (waited way too long between shots)
rule of 4’s: when the perp comes into view, 4 shots in 4 seconds with a .44 caliber
pulling off that many rounds that rapidly makes it much easier to argue the “neutralizing the threat” point

Like it or not, you cannot set traps to kill people. Didn’t they teach you guys that in C&C class?

I’d feel differently had he not purposely moved his truck and sat downstairs drinking red bull and eating cheetos.

I don’t feel bad for the adults who broke into his house either. That doesn’t make what he did right or OK. I can separate the 2.

I am curious if people upset with the verdict would feel differently if a similar incident occurred, except the perps were children, say ages 8-11.

Am I guilty of “setting a trap” by keeping loaded guns handy with the full intention of shooting anyone who breaks into my house? Like it or not, this is not illegal. These are the points an appeals judge will easily sort out an toss the case out the window.

-J.

wiring a shotgun trigger to the door handle is setting a trap
last I knew, it was still legal to park other places on your own property besides just in FRONT of the house
and what’s the problem wearing a sidearm while sitting and reading in your own house (especially if recent incidences would cause you to believe that your safety is threatened within your own home)

the ONLY problem I see is how long he waited between the initial shot and the lethal shot (with both perps)

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the ONLY problem I see is how long he waited between the initial shot and the lethal shot (with both perps)

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and that is what turned it from defending ones self and/or property, into homocide… that’s all. Waiting a day, because you didn’t want to bother the police… that didn’t help his cause either, but would have went miles if they would have been claiming he was a loon.

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wiring a shotgun trigger to the door handle is setting a trap
last I knew, it was still legal to park other places on your own property besides just in FRONT of the house
and what’s the problem wearing a sidearm while sitting and reading in your own house (especially if recent incidences would cause you to believe that your safety is threatened within your own home)

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Those things aren’t illegal but they make great evidence in a premeditated murder case.

It’s not illegal for me to shadow box, but it is illegal for me to walk into someone while shadow boxing.

I don’t think they could have claimed insanity. You need to prove someone doesn’t know right from wrong to win an insanity plea. He obviously knew right from wrong, because he knew it was wrong for someone to break into his house and he believed it justified his actions enough that he recorded it…in hopes it would help his case.

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I believe this case will be turned over on appeal.

-J.

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Jon – I suppose I don’t know what you mean by “turned over”, but I’ll bet you $500 the final word is at least a decade in prison. What do you say?

I say this is not a first degree murder. If he gets 10 years for being stupid, so be it.

-J.

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I agree with everything you mentioned Jon.

But a person still needs to render aid once the threat is stopped…and not a fatal bullet.
Just me and the way I roll I guess.

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Agree. So everyone, this should tell you to spend a little extra time at the range! And for the criminals out there, your lifestyle can and will eventually cost you your life.