People v. Ceballos

Facts

Ceballos lived alone in a home in San Anselmo. The regular living quarters were above the garage, but he sometimes slept in the garage and kept about $2,500 worth of property there. In March 1970 some tools were stolen from his home. On May 12, 1970, he noticed that the lock on his garage doors was bent and that pry marks were on one of the doors. The next day he mounted a loaded .22 caliber pistol in the garage. He aimed it at the center of the garage doors and connected it by a wire to one of the doors, so that it would fire if the door was opened several inches. A 16-year-old boy named Stephen and a 15-year-old boy named Robert had damaged the lock. On the afternoon of May 15, 1970, they returned while Ceballos was away. Neither carried a gun or knife. After looking in the windows and seeing no one, Stephen removed the lock with a crowbar. As he pulled the door outward, a bullet from the pistol hit him in the face. Stephen testified that he meant to go in for musical equipment to pay a debt, but that he was not sure he would steal. Ceballos admitted setting up the trap gun. He said he wanted to keep a burglar out, and he told police he wanted to protect what he had.

Issues

1. Can a person who sets a trap gun to protect his property avoid criminal liability for assault with a deadly weapon by arguing that he would have been justified in shooting the intruder had he been present?
2. Would Ceballos, had he been present, have been justified under the California Penal Code and Civil Code in using deadly force against a person attempting to burglarize his garage when no one else was on the premises?

Holding

Ceballos was not justified in shooting Stephen to prevent a burglary of his garage, because that burglary threatened no death or serious bodily harm, and the exception for deadly mechanical devices did not apply as a matter of law. His conviction for assault with a deadly weapon stood.