By JUAN A. LOZANO, Associated Press

HOUSTON (AP) - A retired Houston-area firefighter faces up to life in prison after a jury convicted him of murder for gunning down his unarmed neighbor during a dispute over a noisy house party.

Forty-seven-year-old Raul Rodriguez argued he was within his rights under Texas' version of a stand-your-ground law when he killed Kelly Danaher in 2010. The trial's punishment phase begins Thursday and will include more testimony.

Rodriguez killed Danaher, a 36-year-old elementary school teacher, and wounded two other men while telling a police dispatcher "I'm standing my ground here."

Rodriguez's reference is similar to the claim made by a neighborhood watch volunteer who is citing Florida's stand-your-ground law in his defense in the fatal February shooting of an unarmed teenager. Rodriguez's case was decided under a different self-defense doctrine.

(Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

Associated Press