Katko V. Briney

Katko v. Briney, 183 N.W.2d 657 (Iowa 1971), was a famous tort case decided by the Supreme Court of Iowa, in which a homeowner (Edward Briney) was held liable for battery for injuries caused to a trespasser (Marvin Katko) who set off a spring gun set as a mantrap in an abandoned house on the homeowner's property.

Case Brief: Briney mounted a spring-loaded shotgun in his unoccupied house, the shotgun severely injured Katko’s leg when he entered the house. Katko sued.

Facts: The defendant owned an old unoccupied farmhouse in Iowa, the property was boarded up, had "no trespass" signs around it, and had been unused and was in a deteriorating condition for several years. Briney was very upset with the constant burglaries and break-ins into his unoccupied farmhouse. To solve this issue, Briney mounted a 20-gauge spring-loaded shotgun in the farmhouse to fire when the north bedroom door was opened. The gun was aimed to shoot an intruder's legs so as not to cause a mortal injury. Five days later, Katko went into the farmhouse with the intent of collecting some old bottles and dated fruit jars that Katko considered antiques. Upon entering the room, the trigger mechanism was tripped and the shotgun fired into Katko’s legs at point blank range. The gunshot wounds sustained by Katko were sufficiently severe for him to require hospitalization. Katko sued Briney after his release from hospital.

Reasoning: The court ruled that using deadly force on intruders in an unoccupied property was not reasonable or justified. Briney would have been justified in defending himself with the shotgun if he had been home during the intrusion.

Judgment: The court ruled for Katko, and he was awarded $20,000 in actual damages and $10,000 in punitive damages.

The case stands for the proposition that, though a landowner has no duty to make his property safe for trespassers, he may not set deadly traps against them.

The notable quotation from the decision is:

"the law has always placed a higher value upon human safety than upon mere rights in property"