In a video spot you can watch on YouTube, at least one group is already touting the latest, greatest solution to alleged prison overcrowding: INCREASE THE PAROLE RATE BY 4%!

If you do not get involved in talking to your state rep and senator, that's the sort of deep thinking you can expect at the next Leg Session in January.

[This message was edited by JB on 10-13-06 at .]

Ruling: Boy, 14, acted in defense

Slaughter was released from prison late last week after violating his parole in June.

By Barbara Ramirez
Corpus Christi Caller-Times
October 13, 2006

A grand jury Thursday decided a 14-year-old boy who shot and killed an intruder in his home Monday acted in self-defense and no charges were necessary.

"I guess, as far as we're concerned, this was a completely justified shooting," said District Attorney Carlos Valdez.

Valdez said details of the Ocean Drive shooting were presented to the grand jury for consideration in the same manner as any other case, which ensured fairness.

"Any time there's a shooting involving the death of one citizen at the hands of another it is our policy to present it to the grand jury," he said.

Family attorney Jimmy Granberry also has said the shooting was in self-defense and that the boy, Michael Kozlowski, and his mother, Rose Ann Kozlowski, feared for their lives during the ordeal.

Granberry did not return calls for further comment late Thursday.

Police on Monday responded to the Kozlowski home in the 4200 block of Ocean Drive after receiving a call about 12:55 p.m. from Rose Ann saying a man had bound her and her son and held them at knifepoint.

When police arrived, they found 57-year-old James Slaughter dead with a gunshot wound to his head. Police said he had been shot by the teen after the boy and his mother were able to free themselves and grab a revolver from a security box under a bed. Slaughter had ransacked the home and packed the family's SUV with valuables, police said. He was released from prison late last week after violating his parole in June.

Police also are looking for Slaughter's possible accomplices because neighbors reported seeing a suspicious 1970s green, four-door Lincoln Continental or Mercury Marquis slowly drive past homes a short time before the burglary.

Investigators said Slaughter's criminal record included several convictions for burglaries in Texas and Oregon dating back to 1967.

In 1983, he was shot by San Patricio County Sheriff Leroy Moody and by a deputy after he refused to drop a rifle during a confrontation with authorities. Earlier that day, he burglarized a home in Taft, bound the two residents and packed their vehicle with stolen items. He was sentenced to 45 years in prison for those offenses but was paroled in 2001.

Make him the head of the Parole board, but first, give him a tdcaa scholarship to college and law school. In between then, let's have this kid be the featured speaker at next year's annual.

The dude is a hero, and this situation easily could have gone the other way.