Re: Joe Horn?
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I can confirm that you are liable in civil and probably criminal court for setting a trap that results in death. I'm curious why Alex thinks otherwise. I would think everyone could agree is that lethal force is only justified to protect your life. An intruder killed by a trap usually doesn't qualify because the owner is usually well away.
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I would say lethal force is acceptable to stop theft depending on the value of what's being stolen. Stealing a loaf of bread = no. Stealing your grandmother's engagement ring = yes.
This isn't about that though. If someone wants to set traps in their home that's their business and if those traps happen to kill someone that's that person's fault for being somewhere they shouldn't, not the property owners.
Where do you draw this arbitrary line? If I leave a banana peel lying somewhere in my home in the hopes that an intruders slips on it, busts their skull opens and dies, is that murder? If I get a guard dog and it mauls an intruder to death, is that murder?
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