Whether an owner may use a spring gun capable of causing death or serious injury to protect an unoccupied house and its contents from trespassers and thieves.
Holding
No. An owner may not use such a device to protect property alone, even against someone breaking in to steal.
Reasoning
The law permits reasonable force to protect property but places greater value on human life and limb. An owner cannot use force likely to cause death or serious injury solely to prevent a trespass or theft. A mechanical trap gives the owner no greater right to injure an intruder than the owner would have if present.
The farmhouse was unoccupied, and Katko’s theft threatened property, not anyone’s safety. The Brineys’ hidden, loaded shotgun was capable of inflicting serious injury; aiming it toward an intruder’s legs did not make that level of force permissible. The exception for threats to human life or violent felonies did not apply.
The trial court’s instructions correctly stated those limits, and the jury’s verdict was supported by the evidence. The court also left the punitive award intact, but did not decide whether punitive damages are legally available in this type of case: the Brineys had not raised that objection in the trial court.