Death Traps: Making them for both sides?

So lets say we have a character who builds Death Traps for villains, but also trains heroes to be able to escape those traps.

In theory every trap is escapable through a specific method (that most heroes don't end up using for one reason or another, usually since they just use their own powers), but they are still completely capable of killing someone.

The idea is that the dude who builds them used to be a stuntman/escape artist who performed similar stunts himself, and applies that to his so-called villainy, but is more an Anti-Hero looking to make money. He trains the heroes to escape in the hopes of being able to legally say that their deaths are not his fault (he not only built in a escape clause, but acts to train heroes to know how to get out in the event they are not able to escape using other means).

The traps aren't primarily made to be deadly (they can be, but that's more part of the show); he really builds them as distractions to delay and distract the heroes so that the villains who hire him can escape. He even takes action to keep the identities of the people he builds and sells said traps for a secret, in the hopes of not being legally culpable.

As an extra note, while he traps have allowed villains to temporarily escape, they have not killed a single hero (or any civilians who get caught, since said civilians are saved by the heroes when they escape.

So my question is, if he gets arrested, how responsible is he for all this? Could he spin it to avoid a jail sentence if he gets caught?

edited 31st Oct '14 10:59:49 AM by Handsomerob

IANAL, but I'm pretty sure he's toast.

Courts tend to take a dim view of conspiracy to commit crime and focus on the substance rather than the technicalities. If you hand someone a weapon and they commit a murder and you had reason to suspect they might, you're still responsible. Even if you suspect something is going on but deliberately avoid finding out about it, you're probably still culpable.

Would the trap-builder or his business even survive long enough to be arrested? I should think that a trap-builder who's been known to train heroes to survive his traps (and whose traps have racked up no fatalities) would probably have been killed ages ago, or at the very least, have no clients.

Except that they are not "Death Traps", oh no. They are "non-lethal security systems" designed to protect legitimate private property owners from intruders. Every customer will sign a release stipulating that "Non Lethal Security Systems" Inc. products are to be used for legal purposes only. Heck, in the US he could go public and sell stock.

Except that booby traps are illegal. You're under no obligation to make your property safe, but deliberately making it dangerous makes you liable for any harm encountered by trespassers.

Unless the "trap" is clearly labeled. That's why you can get away with electrified fencing.

Right up until someone gets hurt by the thing. It'd be a very brave or a very foolish lawyer who would voluntarily defend the case.