From: INVALID_SEE_SIG@example.com.invalid   
      
   In the previous article, Adam H. Kerman  wrote,   
   quoting me:   
   > >>But the parents are suing the homeowner who erected the wire the   
   > >>boy got caught on, a wire that was not blocking the pavement. And   
   > >>they are doing it selflessly so no one else ever again erects a   
   > >>hazard in a place that one is not allowed to drive.   
   > >   
   > >It's a little more complicated than "You aren't allowed to drive   
   > >here, so I can set a trap to kill or maim anyone who tries." That's   
   > >not actually a thing that's allowed, legally, in the U.S. (or   
   > >probably anywhere).   
   >   
   > [...]   
   >   
   > You just described a crime of intent that could have been charged as   
   > depraved indifferent homicide, possibly first or second degree   
   > murder, depending on the state criminal code.   
   >   
   > THE HOMEOWNER DID NOT COMMIT A CRIME.   
      
   I said it was *more complicated* than the formulation I posed. I'm not   
   condescending to you, or at least not intentionally; I was giving my   
   opinion of the situation. My professional opinion, if that makes a   
   difference. (But I'm hedging, as I don't know all of the facts.)   
      
   The homeowner *may* have committed a crime -- though probably not   
   rising to the level of homicide -- depending on circumstances that I   
   don't know. But you can't just go around setting "man-traps."   
      
   > [snip description of circumstances]   
      
   The totality of the circumstances here isn't especially illuminated by   
   the additional facts you adduced. Not that it matters. I'd have to   
   study the actual record of facts before coming to a real, final   
   conclusion about the legality of that situation. Intent matters, but   
   it also isn't the final word, either for criminality or civil   
   liability.   
   --   
     _+_ From the catapult of |If anyone objects to any statement I make, I am   
   _|70|___:)=}- J.D. Baldwin |quite prepared not only to retract it, but also   
   \      /  baldwin@panix.com|to deny under oath that I ever made it.-T. Lehrer   
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