Legal Definitions - booby trap

A booby trap refers to a concealed device intentionally set up to activate automatically and cause injury or death to anyone who triggers it. The law considers setting such a device a serious crime, even if the intent is merely to protect property. The individual who sets a booby trap is held legally responsible for any harm or fatality it causes, regardless of whether the victim was an intruder or had no malicious intent.

Here are some examples illustrating the concept of a booby trap:

• A homeowner rigs a tripwire. A person, concerned about trespassers, installs a tripwire across their backyard path, connected to a spring-loaded mechanism that would release a heavy, blunt object designed to strike someone at knee height.

  This illustrates a booby trap because it is a hidden device (tripwire and mechanism) designed to activate automatically and cause physical harm to anyone who triggers it by walking along the path. The homeowner would face severe legal consequences if someone were injured, even if that person was trespassing.

• A disgruntled former employee. After being fired, an individual secretly places a pressure-activated plate under a mat near a frequently used workstation in their former office. This plate is connected to a small container of highly irritating chemical powder that would be forcefully ejected upwards when stepped on.

  Here, the pressure plate and chemical dispenser constitute a booby trap. It's a concealed device intended to be triggered automatically by an unsuspecting person, causing harm (severe irritation). The former employee would be criminally liable for setting it and civilly liable for any injuries.

• Protecting an illegal operation. Individuals operating an unauthorized cannabis cultivation site in a remote forest dig a deep pitfall trap, line it with sharpened wooden stakes, and carefully camouflage it with branches and leaves along a known deer trail that also serves as an access point.

  This pitfall trap is a booby trap because it's a hidden construction designed to automatically cause severe injury or death to anyone who falls into it. The individuals who set it would be criminally charged and held responsible for any harm, even if the victim was merely a hiker or a law enforcement officer discovering the site.