I understand your pain. Luckily I live in a Castle Doctrine State and, God Forbid, should I ever have to defend myself or my family, my first words are going to be "I was scared for my life, I thought he was going to kill me!"
Criminals have rights and that is important. Everyone should have their day in court and not just be automatically convicted. Unfortunately, although victims are also protected, it does take them through the ringer to prove they are the victim.
People play both sides of the card to achieve what they want. I had a lady who wanted to press rape charges against a man. By the time the investigation was done, the poor guy was a wreck, his reputation ruined, marriage destroyed and like he said, he was innocent. (She thought it was a beginning to a new relationship and he thought it was a friends with benefits thing.)
Some crimes are not so clear cut as to know who was in the right or wrong. The Florida case against the mother accused of killing her child (Casey Anthony) is a good point. I was so disappointed in the verdict, but it proved our justice system worked. Unfortunately, her daughter was not avenged and her family become more victims.
There are some good cases out there also in which the home owner was justified in the shooting of some of these criminals. I think regardless of what the laws are, bad people are going to continue to be a drain on society. Hopefully all states with have a Castle Doctrine or a Stand Your Ground law. When the criminals begin to understand their line of work is no longer safe, we all win.