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Well Joe Horn's problem, and ultimately the problem we all face in our current culture, is that the public at large has adopted a series of opinions that add up to equate to Joe Horn's guilt, in the court of public opinion:

1. The police are the only entity authorized to enforce the law and protect the public from crime (and 1a. the 911 operators are agents of the police, entrusted with the same authority)

2. You are not justified in the use of force in any case except the in the defense of your own life or that of your immediate family

Adding these together, the common opinion is that Joe Horn was not justified in defending his neighbor's property, his presence outside his house with a gun escalated the conflict and caused the burglars to step onto his property (therefore his defense of his own life on his own property is invalidated, since he is seen to have caused the situation that put him and his property in peril), and since the police had already been notified and in fact dispatched, then Joe Horn was beyond his authority to confront the burglars to begin with.

Now of course this is all counter to the law.

Someone said recently that 150 years ago in TX, this Joe Horn scenario would have had the unanimous response from the public such as "Two burglars were killed while attempting to flee from the scene of the crime with the stolen property by the heroic Joe Horn. The criminals got what they rightfully deserved. Let this be a lesson to others who may want to commit a crime, you may likely find yourself pushing up daisies as well". In times past, the public opinion was more like:

1. It is your responsibility and duty to defend your neighbor's property against theft.

2. The police are only necessary in the event that the armed citizens fail to execute such duty

Public opinion today != the law.

The battle is in public opinion. Diane Sawyer is not on our side.