john@hp-pcd.UUCP (john) (07/21/84)
About four years ago when I was at Purdue a rather unusual legal case came up. I left before the case went to trial and I wonder if anyone remembers it and can tell me what happened. The case involves a man whose mobile home had been buglarized several times in the past. The Sheriff had a couple of suspects but could never catch them with any hard evidence. The man decided to rig a shotgun boobytrap on his front door and one day came home to find one of the suspects dead on his door step. I forget whether he was to be tried for murder or manslaughter. There were a lot of editorials at the time about the right to protect one property vs human rights vs what if it had been a local fireman etc etc. John Eaton !hplabs!hp-pcd!john
rjb@akgua.UUCP (R.J. Brown [Bob]) (07/23/84)
I think most states have laws that outlaw "Man traps
and Spring guns" and I believe this was passed down to
us by English common law. Is this true lawyerpersons ?
In Georgia, in the mid 70s a store owner rigged a blasting
cap to his cigarette machine which was located on the front
porch of his store. A sixteen year old boy had the femoral
artery in his leg cut by blasting cap fragments and he bled
to death. The store owner was tried and convicted of manslaughter
if I remember correctly. Vandalizing and robbing a cigarette
machine is not usually a capital offense and the "man trap -
spring gun" principle had application in this case.
"I am not a lawyer nor do I know any"
Bob Brown {...ihnp4!akgua!rjb}
AT&T Technologies, Inc.............. Norcross, Ga
(404) 447-3784 ... Cornet 583-3784sunny@sun.uucp (Sunny Kirsten) (07/24/84)
Dead burglers don't sue... If you're going to shoot, shoot to kill, and keep shooting until death. Otherwise, don't shoot. And don't shoot unless you are in grave danger of death or bodily harm, or someone near is similarly threatened. Suggestion: check out net.flame for a discussion on Gun Control which just started in the last couple days.