Intentional Torts Flashcards
Substantial Certainty
98%
Intent in intentional torts
For the purpose of causing the outcome; or knowing with substantial certainty that the outcome would result from the act
Battery
- Actor intends to cause contact with another person
- contact is harmful or offensive
- The other person does not consent
Unique intent issue in battery
single intent and dual intent
Single intent jurisdictions
D must intend contact (that ends up being harmful or offensive) *majority
Dual intent jurisdictions
D must intend contact AND must intend that the contact be harmful or offensive
Transferred Intent “extended liability
Courts hold intentional wrongdoers responsible for an extensive range of consequences, including consequences the wrongdoer never intended
- usually only applied where D’s conduct, if liable, completed as intended would have been a tort
-
example of transferred intent
A swings at B, intending to scare her (assault), but he hits C. Although A has no intent to C, A has committed battery against C. (A’s original act, if completed, would have been assault against B)
“offensive” for battery
- contact offends a reasonable sense of personal dignity; or
- the contact is highly offensive to the other person’s unusual sensitive sense of personal dignity, and the actor knew the contact would be highly offensive to the other
General goal of battery tort
protect personal dignity
Eggshell Skull
D is responsible for all damages incurred by P, even if those damages were not foreseeable and even if an ordinary victim would not have suffered these injuries or to the same extreme
Battery may exist where…
the actor causes offensive contact to items believed to be logical extensions of the victim’s person
Respondeat Superior
- a form of vicarious liability
- employer is generally liable for the tortious conduct of an employee that occurs within the scope of employment
Nominal damages
awarded to signify plaintiff’s vindication in court
(ex: $1)
Punitive damages (exemplary)
the purpose is to punish D for their actions and deter the D and others from committing similar offenses
Compensatory damages
monetary awards to P for losses, injuries, or damages caused by another party’s unlawful conduct
Assault
actor intends to cause a harmful or offensive contact OR an imminent apprehension of harmful or offensive contact AND the other person is thereby put into imminent apprehension of a harmful or offensive contact
contemporaneous awareness (assault)
is required
Standard for apprehension
a) Whether the act would place a reasonable person in apprehension of an unwanted contact, not whether or not whether the D is able to make the intended contact
b) Contact is about to take place
c) Knowledge of Act Required – P must have been aware of the threat
d) Knowledge of Def. identity not required
Apparent Ability to Act is sufficient – even if def. is not actually capable of causing injury, apprehension can be satisfied
Are words alone enough for assault?
words generally do not constitute assault, doesn’t satisfy apprehension
False Imprisonment
Actor intends to confine another within boundaries fixed by the actor, confinement results, and the other is contemporaneously aware of the confinement or harmed by it.
Confinement
someone remaining in a bounded area created by the actor
Shoplifting Privilege
1) a reasonable belief a person has stolen or is attempting to steal
2) detention for a reasonable time
3) detention in a reasonable manner (defense to false imprisonment)
Shopkeeper’s Dilemma
- If the shopkeeper is wrong they could be held liable for various torts
- If the shopkeeper reasonably believes that theft may have occurred, then SK may detain in a reasonable manner for a reasonable time to investigate the ownership of the property
Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress
Actor 1) acted intentionally or recklessly, 2) conduct was extreme and outrageous, 3) conduct caused another person’s emotional distress; 4) that emotional distress was severe
Recklessness
deliberate disregard of a high probability that severe emotional distress will follow from the act (less than 98% certainty that harm will occur)
Extreme and Outrageous
utterly intolerable, beyond all bounds of civilized society, very unusual, outrageous
Severe Emotional Distress
distress that no reasonable person should be expected to endure
Transferred Intent in IIED
Can apply to a mistaken victim if; P is a member of a victim’s immediate family, P was present during intentional tort against victim, and P’s presence was known to D
Trespass to Land
Actor enters land in the possession of another with intent, or causes a thing or third person to do so; OR remains on the land OR fails to remove from the land a thing that he is under a duty to remove
Trespass to Land Intent
Intent to enter. Intent to be where you are at.
Trespass to Chattels & Conversion
Actor intends to exercise control over a chattel that interferes with the right of the owner of the chattel to control it.
Conversion
intentional exercise of dominion or control over a chattel which so seriously interferes with the right of another to control it that the actor may justly be required to pay the other the full value of the chattel.
Chattels to Conversion Seriousness Factors
- Extent and duration of actor’s control
- Actor’s interest to assert a right inconsistent with the other’s right of control
- Actor’s good faith
- Extent and duration of the resulting interference
- Harm done to the chattel
- Inconvenience and expense caused to the other
Trespass to Chattels Damages
P gets return of the chattel & damage to the chattel (repair)
Conversion Damages
P gets to choose either:
1) return of the chattel + damage to the chattel OR
2) fair market value (D keeps chattel)
Privilege
the legal right to act in a certain way when you have to duty to refrain from acting in that way
Consent
You are subjectively willing for the other person’s conduct to occur
Apparent Consent
The victim has done something that would trigger a reasonable person to believe they have consent
Consent invalidated by fraud
Misrepresentation must be about something that affects the intrinsic nature and quality of the invasion or the harm.
Consent invalidated by duress
a threat of unlawful conduct that is intended to, and does prevent the P, an ordinary person, from exercising free will or choice
Consent invalidated by lack of capacity
- Usually minors and impaired adults
- If you are so drunk you can’t appreciate the consequences of what you’re doing –– that is incapacity; you cannot consent
Self-defense
A person is privileged to use reasonable force to defend himself against unprivileged acts that he reasonably believes will cause him bodily harm, offensive bodily contact, or confinement.
Stand your Ground Laws
no duty to retreat before using reasonable force in self-defense. This includes deadly force. Not limited to the home.
Castle Doctrine
no duty to retreat before using reasonable force is self-defense. This includes deadly force. Limited to the home.
Defense of Others
If A is threatening B, C is privileged to defend B to the same extent that B would be privileged to defend himself.
Defense of Property - majority rule
As a general matter, you cannot use deadly force to defend property unless the intrusion threatens death or serious bodily harm to occupiers or users
Necessity
A defense against trespass (or trespass to chattels or conversion) where;
a) D interferes with P’s property in an emergency to protect an interest of his own
b) D must still pay actual damages (partial privilege), but he is not liable for nominal or punitive damages.
Private Necessity
- Qualified defense/partial privilege
- Risk that an individual may be harmed
