Help with legal stuff for homework

[Hondaracing819]

I need some help from all the lawyers out there.

Don Ceballos set up a booby trap at his house so whne someone would open his garage the would be shot by a .22. He did this to prevent anyone from stealin anything. While he was out one day 2 kids broke the lock on his garage and opened the door and was shot in the face.

Should he be considered guilty or not guilty for attempted murder.

[JJ69]

morally, he shouldnt be guilty. i would do the same if i had frequent break-ins.

now the way the law looks at it, he shot someone.
so in court he would be guilty but to me, no friggin way.

[416exmx]

Not a lawyer here, actually far from it, but guilty. You cant set "booby traps" to injure/kill trespassers. Anymore though, trespassers seem to have more rights on your property than you do.

If I were the judge though...... Not Guilty!

[Honda400exrox]

he didnt shoot them, the string pulled the trigger, the string does the time;)

hand that into your teacher, youd have a good argument and a good class waster of a topic on your hands:blah:

[GPracer2500]

What if there's a fire and a fireman needs to enter through that door? What if the homeowner is disabled because of an accident and the police and parametics need to enter through that door? What if the homeowner is killed in a car accident the next day and an unsuspecting non-resident family memeber enters through that door?

Deadly booby traps are not justifiable crime fighters.

[416exmx]

Originally posted by GPracer2500
What if there's a fire and a fireman needs to enter through that door? What if the homeowner is disabled because of an accident and the police and parametics need to enter through that door? What if the homeowner is killed in a car accident the next day and an unsuspecting non-resident family memeber enters through that door?

Deadly booby traps are not justifiable crime fighters.


What if the homeowner comes home drunk one night and.....

[Doober]

Originally posted by Honda400exrox
he didnt shoot them, the string pulled the trigger, the string does the time;)

hand that into your teacher, youd have a good argument and a good class waster of a topic on your hands:blah:

hahaha thats a different way to look at it :p

[gbcap]

guilty. pre meditated murder. he intended to do bodily harm to someone opening his garage. spraying them with mase would be a whole other thing. but still wrong because of the firefighter/police issue. thier is no excuse...stuff is replacable. theft is not an offense that deserves death...

[00tn300ex]

I dont think it is right to set traps that way,but actually he did not pull the trigger,whoever opened the door did.

[wilkin250r]

No, he DID pull the trigger. Even if he didn't actually put his finger on it, HE was the one that put the mechanisms in place to cause the gun to fire.

If you put a bomb into somebody's car, and wire it to the ignition, YOU are guilty of murder. You can't claim that THEY blew themselves up because they turned the key.

He intentionally set a lethal trap. That's murder, regardless if it was on his own property or not.

[Quad18star]

Guilty .

His intent when he set up the trap was to cause bodily harm or death to anyone entering the premise.

[Toadz400]

Guilty. GPRacer2500, Wilkin250R, and Quad18Star said it perfectly.

[firefighterjosh]

He is guilty.

If he wanted the ppl caught he should have ether bought a Pit Bull or a Servalence System.

In my opinion I dont think any one should be shot for any reason other than if they have a gun and are shooting/pointing at you.

[trick250r]

well, if an old woman in florida can be found guilty of not making her home safe to break in to...(robber fell through the skylight and broke his leg or something stupid like that)


i would say that the guy would be found guilty for pre-meditated murder.

[gbcap]

hell....a friend of my dad is in jail right now cause his dog...junkyard dog...behind a 10ft chainlink fence with barbed wire on the top...killed a guy that was "taking a short cut" with 3 of his friends thru his junkyard instead of around. every 10 ft there is a sign that reads no trespassing but yet the land owner is at fault? wtf is that.

[red2004 TRX450R]

Originally posted by Quad18star
Guilty .

His intent when he set up the trap was to cause bodily harm or death to anyone entering the premise.

most states you are not aloud to use deadly force to protect property. and in the state you can hey have roles of engagement. In most states its not every legal to detain some one against their will if you catch them stealing form you.
as a home owner you have the duty to make you private property safe for any one that may enter it legal or illegal or you can be liable for it.

In most states deadly force can only be used if you or a loved one is in immediate danger of death or severe bodily harm.

the guy is going to prison

its been 4 years since i was in a legal class so the wording is off!!

[bwamos]

He will get manslaughter.

You have the right to protect your property.

However, it is illegal to booby-trap the premisis incase there is a fire or emergency and the fire dept, or police have to get into your house.

Since it is illegal to boobytrap. And someone was killed because of his committed crime he will get 20yrs for voluntary manslaughter.

He will get out in 3 months on probation.


Summary: not guilty of attempted murder. Guilty of voluntary manslaughter.

It was attempted murder.. but that's not how the system works.

What he's screwed on is the Civil Lawsuit to follow. ;)

If the gun shot him in the foot would it still be attempted murder?

[gbcap]

Originally posted by bwamos


You have the right to protect your property.




and that depends on what state your in. you don't even have the right to shoot someone in maryland even if they have a gun IN YOUR HOUSE unless you have made an attempt to flee. if you haven't tried to escape the situation you can be charged with murder/manslaughter. trust me on this one. the first response would be speculation since i don't know that for sure.

[ATC Crazy]

If I were voting...he would be found NOT GUILTY!

You have a right to protect your property. Laws or not, I will shoot to kill anyone caught breaking into my house, or causing damage to my other property.

I hate thieves. They are the lowest scum of the earth and deserve to die.

Shoot first, ask questions later. If the cops come to take you away...well...I have my AK's loaded to deal with them.

So you kill some one for taking a chair?

[ATC Crazy]

Originally posted by slow
So you kill some one for taking a chair?

Yes I would. Stealing is stealing

Originally posted by ATC Crazy
Yes I would. Stealing is stealing

phyco

[Raptor68]

It's psycho...

[ATC Crazy]

Dont worry about what I do, unless you step onto my property.

My house has been broken into before. I know what it feels like...and it will NOT happen again ;)

Originally posted by ATC Crazy
Dont worry about what I do, unless you step onto my property.

My house has been broken into before. I know what it feels like...and it will NOT happen again ;)

My house got broken into b4 to. The house was being remodeld and they stole all the new stuff and a dirt bike.

Even if some one stole my quad i wouldn't shoot them but i would want to.


Why can gas stations, the people behind the counter shoot robbers and not get in any trouble?

A nother thing i want to know is why do cops try to kill you? Why dont they just shoot your hand or leg? You most likely would drop the gun. When cops shoot at a person they shoot like 15 bullets into a guys chest.

[GPracer2500]

The laws regarding the use of lethal force vary state to state. But, a general rule of thumb is that the only times you are able to used deadly force (in the eyes of the law) is when your life or the life of someone else (it doesn't need to be a family member--it could be a stranger) is in immenent danger.

It gets complicated though. In many states there are certain crimes (things like arson of an occupied structure and other specific crimes) that allow for the use of deadly force to prevent the crime. In some states there is are certain criteria that presume lethal intent on the part of a perpetrator of a crime.

Police officers don't "shoot to disable" because the only time they (should) be shooting at all is if lethal force is justified. Once the decision has been made to use deadly force that's it--DEADLY force is used. There's no "inbetween" use of a deadly weapon.

If you really want to know what laws apply to YOU than research your state's statutes or contact your state's attorney office for advice. It's all spelled out in (moslty) plain english what you can and can't do in the eyes of the law.

[Scott-300ex]

Thats an easy booby trap to set up.

Also, if more than 40 or so people try to break in, it would run out of rounds, say it has a 40rd clip, the 41'st person to break in would be home free.

Yes he is guilty, He set the trap up intending to kill someone.

The Tangoes that set up IED's and Land Mines in Iraq, set them up in an attempt to kill american troops, trying to kill someone.

Guilty.

If some one sees some one getting beat up can some one shoot the guy that is hurting the other guy?

[bwamos]

Originally posted by slow
If some one sees some one getting beat up can some one shoot the guy that is hurting the other guy?

NO.
Unless that persons life is in danger you can not legally use lethal force.

[GPracer2500]

Originally posted by slow
If some one sees some one getting beat up can some one shoot the guy that is hurting the other guy?

That's a complicated question. I think it's best answered by reading and understanding the laws in your state. And keep in mind that even if you are not criminally responsible you are likely to be sued in civil court.

[NorCalRacer]

Thieves are scum and their lives are worth little. However, only a POS would place a fatal booby trap that could kill anyone. If you were in a wreck that day or something, you would still have your trap ready to protect your belongings and your friends/family will get it. That booby trap is illegal in every state but Texas, where you can do whatever you want to thieves/trespassers.

[PismoLocal]

He should have posted warning signs about the booby trap. I think that would have been a better.

[Scott-300ex]

Hell, the guy who set up the booby trap will prolly walk into it. Open his door get shot in the chest and be like. "WTF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh yeh."

Haha.





Officers can't even pull the trigger unless they're in fatal danger as if a guy pulls a gun on him and shoots him.

I'll tell you though, if someones tryin to kill me, I'm pullin out the kershaw clipped to my pocket. Only if they are tryin to kill me.

My house we just put up stickers up saying that we have a alarm system and no break ins since.

[HondaATC500X]

Florida has a neat new law (being adopted elsewhere now thankfully) called the Castle Doctrine, which pretty much allows you to meet force with force, including deadly force if you feel threatned or suspect imiment danger to you or anyone in your party. I dont think it would apply to the trap, but if you were home and someone came in through a window you would have every right to put a hole in his head.

What if their was a sign saying worning that any tress passing will get shot?

[Scott-300ex]

Yeh we have an alarm and signs outside the house, and so do my friends that don't even have alarms, they think that will scare criminals away. LoL. But this isn't about reducing break ins in the house, its about a hypothetical situation if a guy should be in prison or not, wut would happen.

You know, the dude who started this thread, go ask some cops. My friends a cop I'll ask him next time I see him. But he is guilty I'm tellin you.

2 guys up. So if someone tells me he's ganna kill me, whether it be an enemy or a friend do I have the right to kill him?:devil:

Guy above me. I think they have those signs as a joke, people wouldn't pay attention to them, but if the dude gets shot, then the trapper still shot him so should be the same whether signs are up or not, if he still shoots him.

[wilkin250r]

Originally posted by HondaATC500X
Florida has a neat new law (being adopted elsewhere now thankfully) called the Castle Doctrine, which pretty much allows you to meet force with force, including deadly force if you feel threatned or suspect imiment danger to you or anyone in your party. I dont think it would apply to the trap, but if you were home and someone came in through a window you would have every right to put a hole in his head.

This is common in many states. The basic principle is that your house should be the one place you can always feel safe, you should never have to try to escape or retreat from your own home.

Now, this doesn't mean you can shoot just anybody that comes into your home. If you wake up to find somebody running out the back door with your TV, you can't unload on them. You have to be in honest fear of your life. And, obviously, the resulting investigation has to support that, their not just going to take your word. It's a pretty sure bet that if you shoot someone in the back, you're going to jail, because it means they were trying to get away from you, so you can't really claim you were in fear of your life.

At the same time, however, some people assume that you can only respond with like force. That you can only shoot someone if THEY have a gun, but if they have a knife you can only use a knife back on them. This is not true. You don't have to see a weapon at all, as long as you are in honest fear of your life. If you yell at someone to get out of your house, and they charge you, it's pretty obvious they mean you harm. You don't have to wait to see a gun, you don't have to ask if they would be content to just break your arm, but not kill you.

I had a neighbor just down the street that killed an intruder about a year ago. A man was crawling in through his window, and my neighbor had a gun and told him to stop. He didn't stop, which was a pretty clear indication that he meant harm. My neighbor plugged him three times. DOA, and all charges were cleared.