Booby traps?

Kul69

Kul69

Bluelighter
Joined
Nov 11, 2003
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If someone opened the door to my house and suddenly found themselves exploding or otherwise mauled.. would I be responsible legally? I'm thinking it might fall under manslaughter or something like that, but if they're entering your home without permission don't you have the right to use lethal force?
 
How are you going to win the argument that they didn't knock and you didn't say come in etc? Or they thought someone was screaming for help, whatnot... Yeah, I'd think that big warning signs "Yar, here there be traps" might be in order.
 
Kul69 said:
If someone opened the door to my house and suddenly found themselves exploding or otherwise mauled.. would I be responsible legally? I'm thinking it might fall under manslaughter or something like that, but if they're entering your home without permission don't you have the right to use lethal force?
Click to expand...

As far as civil law, there is actually a famous case that (presumably?) every first year law student reads about in torts class. It involves someone setting up "shotgun traps" in a piece of property to keep trespassers from entering. The case is Katko v. Briney and it represents the legal principle that: Reasonable force may be used to protect property, but not such force as will take human life or inflict great bodily harm.

In criminal law, use of deadly force depends on state law, with certain federal conditions, but typically a person can use it only out of necessity and/or fear that their own life is in imminent danger. Most states' crime codes have provisions for using deadly force to defend property and using deadly force to pretend person. To be more specific, again, would depend on the state.
 
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^ Absolutely correct.

In California, setting a booby trap is a felony, and mere possession of one is a wobbler (can be charged as a felony or a misdemeanor). Check out the code section below. I don't know for sure, but my guess is that the same rule California uses is the majority rule in the country. What the code section doesn't state is what you're charged with if your booby trap kills someone: murder.

If you're looking for a rationale behind these laws that goes beyond the idea that deadly force should not be used merely to protect property, think about this: a booby trap cannot distinguish between persons. The same trap that will hurt or kill a burglar will also hurt or kill a firefighter, police offer, or curious child who opens the door for whatever reason.

CALIFORNIA CODES
PENAL CODE
SECTION 12355

12355. (a) Except as provided in Chapter 2.5 (commencing with
Section 12301), any person who assembles, maintains, places, or
causes to be placed a boobytrap device as described in subdivision
(c) is guilty of a felony punishable by imprisonment in the state
prison for two, three, or five years.
(b) Possession of any device with the intent to use the device as
a boobytrap is punishable by imprisonment in state prison, or in a
county jail not exceeding one year, or by a fine not exceeding five
thousand dollars ($5,000), or by both that fine and imprisonment.
(c) For purposes of this section, "boobytrap" means any concealed
or camouflaged device designed to cause great bodily injury when
triggered by an action of any unsuspecting person coming across the
device. Boobytraps may include, but are not limited to, guns,
ammunition, or explosive devices attached to trip wires or other
triggering mechanisms, sharpened stakes, and lines or wire with hooks
attached.
 
So basically since there is no way I know the intent of the person who set off the booby trap I don't have the right to use lethal force?

Based on the above California code it seems that you're allowed to setup booby traps that don't cause great bodily harm?

For example, if I was to alter a glade plugin and it rendered an entire house uninhabitable but only caused great discomfort to those who entered, it's legal right?
 
Not exactly. You can't use lethal force not because you don't know the person's intent, but because you can't use lethal force (or force likely to cause great bodily harm) just to protect property. This is the rule in most states, or maybe even all states.

In CALIFORNIA, which is the largest state by population and also a state that many other states follow in setting their own laws, you could set a booby trap that caused discomfort but not great bodily injury. So perhaps even pepper spray or tear gas would be OK, because it does not cause great bodily harm--if it were not for a separate set of pepper spray and tear gas laws that limit your use to self-defense (not defense of property) and the violation of which itself can be a felony (California Penal Code Section 12403.7). So you're reading the booby trap law correctly, but need to be aware of all the laws that affect your activity.

But what's more important is which state you're in. Because it might have statutes (aka code sections; they're laws passed by the legislature), or published court opinions, that are different from California law. To know about booby traps in your state, you would have to go to a law library and have a librarian help you look up the state statutes, court opinions, and maybe even local codes and ordinances. And you'd have to be smart enough to read and interpret them, which you most likely are, but remember your ass is on the line if you get it wrong. Law libraries are typically located at law schools (especially state university law schools, they will be open to the public) and at some county courthouses.

I didn't look up any court opinions about booby traps in California before posting on this thread, so it's entirely possible that the discomfort-but-not-deadly thing is actionable in civil court (lawsuit) or even criminally punishable if the discomfort makes someone truly miserable. *Probably* not, but it's possible. This stuff is tricky because it requires very thorough research to know what you can and can't do.
 
I've always hated the fact that if some1 breaks in you cant shoot them if they try to run away with your shit. Now if they drop your shit and run thats straight but if they still got it you should be able to shoot em. I'm not being biased either, cuz ive never been broken in to but ive been on the other side of it (jk i wouldnt do that shit). Really though, if some1 is in your fucking house you dont know why their there and they could be about to kill you for all you know i mean if they get shot it's their fault for fuckin up. You shouldn't have to determine if they got a gun or not cuz if they do they arent gonna be lookin at u like i wonder if HE has a gun too...their probably just gonna shoot


my bad this was about booby traps...yeah i think they should actually sell sub-lethal booby traps for your house like tranq darts with an alarm or somethin
 
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