In most states, prostitution is illegal. But also in most states escort services are available.
According to the San Antonio Express News, a jury has just acquitted a man for shooting an escort he hired through Craig's List because she refused to have sex with him and would not refund the $150 fee.
Under Texas Law, people are allowed to use deadly force to recover property stolen in a nighttime theft. The defendant claimed that because he paid her $150 she should have had sexual intercourse with him. (Even though prostitution is illegal in the state of Texas.) Failure to return the money was theft of property. Because he thought sex was included in the escort services.
The Texas law that allows people to use deadly force to recover property during a nighttime theft was put in place for “law-abiding” citizens, prosecutors Matt Lovell and Jessica Schulze countered. It's not intended for someone trying to force another person into an illegal act such as prostitution, they argued.
Apparently the jury did not agree, and acquitted the 30 year-old, Ezekiel Gilbert, whose Christmas Eve 2009 shooting of Lenora Ivie Frago, resulted in her paralysis and eventual death seven months later.
“I sincerely regret the loss of the life of Ms. Frago,” Gilbert said Wednesday. “I've been in a mental prison the past four years of my life. I have nightmares. If I see guns on TV where people are getting killed, I change the channel.”
He has nightmares. Can you imagine? The trauma of murder. It has put him in a "mental prison." Should have been a real one.
Coverage can also be found at Gawker and Think Progress.
Update: Lest this degenerate into a discussion of how good or bad the State of Texas is, keep in mind that the representatives of the State, quoted above, disagreed with the jury's decision.
2:55 PM PT: Here is a link to the google coverage of the Gilbert trial: https://www.google.com/...