10/17   If you booby trap your computer and it blows up a phed trying
        to install a key trap on it, are you guilty of murder?
        \_ In CA yes.  AZ, unlikely.  You can kill criminals there.
        \_ Manslaughter at the very least; quite possibly murder 1.
        \_ If the guy doesn't survive and if you can convince people
           that it was an accident -- computers explode all the time,
           you know -- I think you'll be fine.
           \_ if the poster tries to put a bunch of explosives in his
            computer, who do you think is the most likely person to get
            blown up?  perhaps the "pheds" will find dumbass hackers
            the same way they find dumbass meth manufacturers.
        \_ You'll be found guilty of "something" and you won't like it.  There
           are several cases in recent years where someone trapped their home
           or even simply left something potentially dangerous sitting around
           and a burglar was injured, sued in civil court and won.  What do
           you think the Feds will charge you with besides the obvious "intent
           to inflict harm"/"murder"/"manslaughter" and a pile of explosives
           possession/terrorist related charges.  Then again, the odds of a
           CSUAer having *anything* on their computer worth looking at is
           about zero, so go ahead and put anything you want in there.  No Fed
           will ever run across it.
           \_ this is why you always kill a burglar
        \_ It's premeditated murder. You've built a trap to kill an
           unsuspecting person. Whether or not the act was legal or illegal,
           you've used deadly force in a non-defensive fashion. I'll see if
           I can dig up the statute on this one. Oh and if you kill a "phed"
           it's a "phederal" crime and "phederal" time.
              \_ But even burglars have wives and siblings that can sue.
                 We'll kill 'em all!
           \_ Sounds a lot like urban legend.  You have a source for an actual
              case?
        \_ isn't booby-trapping with dangerous devices, e.g. guns, explosives,
           punji sticks, etc. a specially treated crime?  having the
           computer erase itself is less serious, until they rack up the
           conspiracy, destruction of evidence, interference with federal
           investigation, etc. charges.
        \_ Depends if you have a clear indicator that your machine is
           booby-trapped.  If you put a big sign on your computer stating
           "This computer will self-destruct if tampered with, use at your own
            risk.", you will probably mitagate some of your liability.