MBE Rules · Criminal Law
Defense of property
The rule
A person may use reasonable, non-deadly force to prevent an imminent unlawful intrusion on or dispossession of property. Deadly force may never be used solely to defend property, and mechanical devices (e.g., spring guns) that inflict deadly force are impermissible.
In plain English
Property does not justify killing. Deadly force becomes lawful only when the intruder also threatens the occupants (self-defense or defense of habitation overlaps).
The trap
Spring guns and other deadly mechanical traps expose the owner to homicide liability even if a burglar triggers them.
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