Can you protect your house? The movie "Felon"

Has anyone seen the new movie Felon yet?

It's a very disturbing film about an ordinary, decent, hard-working guy who's prosecuted/imprisoned for being overly zealous defending his home during a robbery.

Bottom line, which you find out in the first minute, is that he kills a crook who appears to be drawing a gun while fleeing his house, with a baseball bat -- hope that's not a spoiler! I honestly don't know how realistic the whole premise is but it was certainly thought provoking. (The movie also presents one of the worst views of American prison life I've seen on film.)

Here's a snippet from one review that I think sums up how many people would feel about this movie.

This tough, uncompromising, cautionary thriller should be a wake-up call about America's outrageously archaic laws insofar as defending the sanctity of home and family.
Susan Granger, SSG Syndicate

I think a number of people here would be interested in seeing this just for the issues it raises. (Yes, the ending is ridiculous, but it's just an afterthought here...)

Well, since we only go to movies with our pre-teen grandkids, I guess we will have to wait for it to hit the $5 bucket at WallyWorld...

Who is fleeing the house?

I guess I was too cryptic, but since this is all revealed immediately, I don't think I'm giving anything away.

1) Husband and wife wake up, hearing a burglar.

2) Turns out the burglar was in the child's room.

3) Man grabs baseball bat from under bed. Puts wife with child.

4) Chases burglar out of his house. Once the burglar is out of the house, there is no longer an imminent threat...

5) Burglar turns and looks like he's going for a gun. Man takes one swing with bat at burglar.

6) Burglar has instant appointment with the devil.

7) Man goes to prison for killing the burglar outside his home.

Very hard to imagine someone going to prison for this. But the movie certainly makes the case about this being a grave injustice.

I don't need to see the movie. I lived it 20 years ago. But in my case it wasn't a burglar, and he didn't die.

Long story short: My older brother's friend (whom I had a long time fued with) was face-to-face with me in my own home. He had a baseball bat and raised it up as if he was going to hit me. I picked up another baseball bat and hit him first.

He lost his spleen. I lost my freedom.

"...Chases burglar out of his house. Once the burglar is out of the house, there is no longer an imminent threat...

5) Burglar turns and looks like he's going for a gun. Man takes one swing with bat at burglar..."

A good defense attorney could probably make a case for the homeowner attempting to make a citizens arrest on the BG for burgulary, the BG made a move causing the homeowner to believe that his life was in danger, so he defended himself. But then, the DA could come up with a pretty good story himself. The come those 12 peers...

The issue was it would take two years to get to trial, during which he'd be incarcerated anyway and they offered him a three year plea bargain. Unfortunately, it didn't turn out to be a "bargain."

By the way, in case it wasn't clear; I liked and recommend this movie. I told my wife all about it today and she found it hard to believe and wanted to know if it's based on a true story. I'd guess there are more than a few true stories like this one...

His first mistake was letting the burglar out of the house. His second was pursuing him once he escaped. His third was in not getting the burglar's body back into the house unobserved after delivering the fatal blow. He deserves to go to prison if he isn't going to be adequately prepared.

It's like I train my daughters to think. They see movies of girls running through the woods in fear of some shadowy menace, or see news broadcasts of women being stalked by some pervert ready to grab them from behind at a dark parking lot and stuff them in a van. Wouldn't it be far better if my girls thought and acted more like opportunistic predators themselves than like helpless, unaware victims? If they prepare themselves for confrontation and plan successful strategies that will almost ensure them the advantage in an ambush or E&E type scenario, wouldn't that be more practical? I know it is certainly doable.

It is much more preferable I think that the last terrifying thing going through the would-be assailant's mind is what a bad mistake he just made thinking my girl(s) are somehow helpless women who would be afraid of him, and how much what they are about to do to him is going to hurt, before he expires.

"...not getting the burglar's body back into the house unobserved after delivering the fatal blow.."

Forensics being what they are today, he would stand a very good chance of that being discovered. And instantly being branded as a bad guy by law enforcement/D.A. If I tried that, someone would be recording the whole things on a cell phone or something...

You shouldn't need to break the law to be protected by the law. (And tampering with a crime scene doesn't seem like a good idea and I don't each watch the CSI programs.)

The point is in the situation outlined above, I don't think the home owner committed any crime. He should have been given a medal from the city, and then he'd unfortunately have to deal with the personal, internal hell of experiencing such a trauma.

And you'd have to wonder what kind of jury would find him guilty of anything.

Not any jury in TX.


I think that benjammin raises an interesting point about mindset. The guy in the movie brought a weapon to bear, but it doesn't seem like he had given the issue much thought beforehand. Sadly, I know people who are in that same state of unpreparedness. These people have guns in the home, but almost never practice with them. I don't grill them, but when we chat, they also don't know the laws of lethal force. Nor does it appear that they have figured out in their mind what it would take for them to take another life.

Cases like this are the exception, but at the same time, theres no script. You need a clear set of guidelines in mind to help deal with that variability. In my case, I will defend my family and myself against an immediate threat. But short of that, I will look for a safe out.