CHAPTER XXIII.

 

MALICIOUS INJURIES AND MISCHIEFS

 

CONTENTS.

 

SECTION 1. Definition.

2.   Malicious injuries specified.

3.     Injury must be maliciously done.

4.     An act done to assert a right.

5.     Trivial injuries

6.     Malicious injury in the first degree defined—Punishment.

7.     Second degree defined—Punishment.

8.     Degree defined—Punishment.

9.     Injury from dogs.

 

1.  Any injury or offense specified in the next section, or any one similar in kind or character to any of those so specified, maliciously done or caused by any one to the property, right or liberty of another, whereby another may or might be subject to loss, damage or prejudice, or disturbance in any of his rights, liberties or privileges of person or property, is a malicious injury within the meaning of the provisions of this chapter.

 

2. Malicious injuries are very numerous: for example:

 

(1.) Maliciously destroying, defacing, injuring or obstructing the use of, or impairing the value or utility of any building, bridge or other structure, public or private

(2.) Destroying or injuring any tree, bush, vine, plant, crop, fruit or other vegetable product:

(3.) Destroying, removing, concealing or altering any land mark or territorial boundary or division:

(4.) Drawing, letting off, or diverting water from any pond, reservoir, tank, trench, pipe or other conduit, or filling up, stopping or obstructing the same; or preventing or obstructing the use of any well, fountain, spring, reservoir or stream

(5.) Destroying, scuttling, sinking, putting adrift, stranding or injuring any ship,’ vessel, beat, canoe or other water craft; or injuring the sails, rigging, furniture, or any utensil, appurtenance or part of any vessel or water craft.

(6.) Putting up, removing, displacing, disguising or otherwise injuring or rendering useless or deceptive any buoy, beacon, sea or channel mark; or extinguishing the light of any beacon; or exhibiting any false or deceptive light or signal, whereby to deceive navigators or others;

(7.) Destroying, cutting, injuring or impairing the usefulness or value of any fish net, harness, tackling, vehicle, sugar mill, coffee mill, machine, tool or implement of husbandry or manufacture;

(8.) Poisoning, spoiling, or mixing any deleterious, offensive or injurious fluid or substance with water, or any fluid or substance used as beverage, food or medicine for men or animals;

(9.) Putting auhuhu or other substance deleterious to fish, into any lake, pond, stream or reservoir for the purpose of destroying the fish;

(10.) Killing, mutilating, maiming, wounding, riding, confining, letting loose or injuring horses, cattle or other animals

(11.) Letting loose any ferocious or dangerous animal; or unjustifiably setting on any dog or any ferocious animal to worry, injure or annoy any person, horse or animal, or willful neglect by the person having charge of any dog or such animal to call him off, or prevent him from worrying, injuring or annoying any person or animal;

(12.) Obstructing any highway or private way, or making pitfalls, holes or excavations therein; or otherwise rendering the same dangerous or inconvenient to persons passing over or along the same:

(13) Making alarming outcries or noises, or exhibiting hide-frightful sights in the day or night

 

3. To constitute the offense of malicious injury, the injury or misdemeanor must be maliciously done, that is, done without adequate legal justification and with intent to injure, prejudice or put to inconvenience another, or with a reckless disregard to the life, health, property, right or liberty of another, where the ₁same s evidently endangered by the act.

 

4. An act done in the fair exercise, assertion, maintenance or vindication in good faith of a supposed legal right, where there is any real or apparent ground for supposing such right to exist, and the same is not used as a mere cloak, pretence or occasion for a malicious injury, shall not be punishable as a malicious injury.

 

5.  Au injury or mischief that is trivial in its character and consequences and without appreciable damage, prejudice or inconvenience to another and not accompanied with outrage, insult or indignity, shall not be punishable within the provisions of this chapter.

 

6. Whoever commits a malicious injury endangering the life or personal safety of another, or whereby property to the amount of one thousand dollars or more is destroyed or in danger of being destroyed, is guilty of malicious injury in the first degree, and shall, in case other punishment is not expressly provided by statute, be punished by imprisonment at hard labor not more than five years, or by fine not exceeding one thousand dollars.

 

7. Whoever commits a malicious injury, whereby property merely is destroyed or in danger of being destroyed to the amount of one hundred dollars or more, and less than one thousand, is guilty of malicious injury in the second degree, and shall, in case other punishment is not expressly provided by statute, be punished by imprisonment at hard labor not more than one year, or by fine not exceeding five hundred dollars.

 

8. Whoever commits a malicious injury, whereby property merely is destroyed or in danger of being destroyed to aim amount less than one hundred dollars, is guilty of malicious injury in the third degree, and shall, in case other punishment is not expressly provided therefor by statute, be punished by imprisonment at hard labor not more than six months, or by fine not exceeding by twice the amount destroyed or endangered.

 

9.  If any dog shall injure or destroy any sheep or cattle, goats, hogs, fowls, or other property belonging to any person other than the owner of such dog, the owner shall be liable in damages to the person-injured, for the value of the property so injured or destroyed; and it shall be the duty of the owner to confine or destroy such dog, and if he neglect or refuse to do so, ho shall, in the event of any further damage being done to the person or property of any person by such dog, in addition to paying the person injured for such damage, pay the costs of the trial, together with a fine of ten dollars, or in default of the payment of such flue, be imprisoned at hard labor for the term of thirty days, amid it shall ho lawful for any other person to destroy sat4 dog. (Civil Code, Section 1488.)