INTENTIONAL TORTS

Question 1

Act

Answer 1

volitional movement on the part of the defendant

Question 2

Intent

Answer 2

Specific intent: intends the consequences
general: intends if D knows with substantial certainty that the consequences will occur.
Injury need not be intended: a person may be liable even for an unintended injury if he intended to bring about such “basis of the tort” consequences.
Transferred intent: intent to commit a tort against one person is transferred to the other tort or to the injured person
- limitations: assault, battery, false imprisonment, trespass to land, and trespass to chattels.
minors and incompetents can have requisite intent

Question 3

Causation

Answer 3

conduct of the defendant is the substantial factor in bringing about the injury.

Question 4

BATTERY

Answer 4

1. harmful or offensive contact with the plaintiff’s person with the intent to bring about the harmful or offensive contact.
   - apprehension not necessary: can recover even if not conscious of the offensive or harmful contact when it occurs
2. can recover nominal damages, actual damages not required.

Question 5

ASSAULT

Answer 5

1. Act creating a reasonable apprehension in plaintiff of immediate harmful or offensive contact to plaintiff’s person with the intent to bring about the apprehension.
2. Apprehension: must be reasonable
   - used like expectation
   - knowledge of act required
   - knowledge of Defendant’s identity not required
   - Defendant’s apparent ability to act is sufficient.
   - Words are not enough, but may negate the assault by making the apprehension unreasonable.
   - conditional threat is sufficient.
   - apprehension must be of immediate harmful or offensive contact- threats of future contact are insufficient .
3. Causation: apprehension must have been legally caused by the act or something set in motion thereby.
4. no need to prove actual damages. Plaintiff can recover nominal damages and punitives where the actions have been malicious.

Question 6

FALSE IMPRISONMENT

Answer 6

1. an act or omission to act that confines or restrains the plaintiff to a bounded area with the intent to confine or restrain.
2. methods of restraint or confinement:
   - physical barriers
   - physical force: directed at P or his immediate family or property.
   - direct threats of force against person or property
   - indirect threats of force: acts or words that reasonably imply that force will be used.
   - failure to provide a means of escape: affirmative duty to release plaintiff
3. invalid use of legal authority:
   - false arrests
   - shoplifting detentions are allowed as long as: there is a reasonable belief that a theft has occurred; the detention is conducted in a reasonable manner; and the detention is for a reasonable amount of time.
   - insufficient forms of confinement: moral pressure or future threats
   - no need to resist
   - time of confinement is immaterial except as to the extent of damages
   - awareness is required unless the plaintiff is actually injured by the confinement
   - bounded area is a restriction of movement in ALL directions.
4. Causation
5. Damages: no actual damages needed. Punitives available for malice.

Question 7

IIED

Answer 7

1. an act amounting to extreme and outrageous conduct with the intent to cause plaintiff to suffer severe emotional distress, or recklessness as to the effect of the Defendant’s conduct.
2. Extreme and outrageous conduct.
   - no physical injury required
   - conduct that transcends all bounds of decency tolerated in society.
3. known sensitivity: if known that plaintiff is more sensitive and more susceptible to emotional distress than the average person, liability.
4. innkeepers and carriers owe a special duty and will be liable even when something is less than outrageous.
5. Causation: must have proximately caused the emotional distress
   - Bystander cases:
6. plaintiff was present at the time of the injury
7. was a close relative.
8. defendant knew that the plaintiff was present and a close relative of the injured person.
9. special liability for mishandling corpses
10. actual damages required, but not necessary to have physical injury to recover.

Question 8

INTENTIONAL TORTS TO PROPERTY- TRESPASS TO LAND

Answer 8

1. act of physical invasion of the plaintiff’s real property with the intent to bring about a physical invasion.
   - plaintiff need not enter land
   - lawful right of entry can expire
   - mistake is not a defense as long as defendant intended to enter on the particular piece of land.

Question 9

INTENTIONAL TORTS TO PROPERTY- TRESPASS TO CHATTELS

Answer 9

1. An act interfering with the plaintiff’s right of possession with the intent to perform the act bringing about the interference with plaintiff’s right of possession.
2. The Act:
   - intermeddling: conduct that in some way serves to directly damage plaintiff’s chattels
   - dispossession: conduct that dispossesses the plaintiff of his lawful right

Question 10

INTENTIONAL TORTS TO PROPERTY- CONVERSION

Answer 10

1. An act interfering with the plaintiff’s right of possession with the intent to perform the act bringing about the interference with plaintiff’s right of possession.
2. Acts:
   - wrongful acquisition
   - wrongful transfer
   - wrongful detention
   - substantially changing
   - severely damaging or destroying
   - misusing the chattel
3. Mere intent to perform act required:
   - bona fide purchaser may be liable
   - accidental conduct insufficient
4. Damages:
   - FMV at the time of the conversion
   - replevin

Question 11

DEFENSES

Answer 11

consent:
1. actual
- by mistake is still valid
- induced by fraud is not a defense
- consent obtained under duress is invalid
2. implied
- apparent consent: reasonable person would infer from conduct
- inferred from usage and custom
- implied by law: ex. emergency situation
3. capacity required
4. cannot consent to a criminal act
5. exceed consent given- liable
Self-Defense:
- reasonable belief
retaliation not allowed
- retreat is not necessary
- not available to the aggressor
- reasonable amount of force that appears necessary to prevent the harm (may not use force that is likely to cause death or serious bodily harm)
- accidental injury to bystander while defending oneself is ok if it was truly an accident
Defense of others:
- reasonable belief that the person being aided would have had the right to self-defense
- same amount of force as is allowed above
Defense of Property:
- request to desist required
- reasonable mistake is allowed as to the property owner’s right to use force where the mistake involves whether an intrusion has occurred or whether a request to desist is required.
- limited to preventing the commission of a tort
- reasonable force may be used. No deadly force
Re-entry onto land:
- a person who had been tortiously dispossessed from land could use reasonable force to regain possession if acting promptly
- ejectment action
Recapture of chattels:
- same as land
- timely demand is required
- recovery only from wrongdoer
- reasonable force- no deadly force
- entry upon land to remove chattel is allowed if done so in a reasonable amount of time and in a reasonable manner. (same for entry on to land of innocent party but notice is required)
Shopkeepers privilege: reasonable detention under belief of theft of item.
Privilege of arrest:
- invasion of land
- subsequent misconduct
- mistake: arrest under mistaken belief may lead to liability for false imprisonment
Necessity:
- public: where the act is for the public good the defense is absolute.
- Private: where the act is solely for the benefit of a limited number of people the defense is qualified- must pay for any injuries caused. Defense is absolute is done for the benefit of the owner of the land.
Discipline: reasonable force may be used in disciplining a child by a parent or teacher.