Tort Class defense to Intentional tort

Question 1

self defense

Answer 1

the exercise of REASONABLE force to repel an attack upon one’s person or to avoid confinement

1. use of reasonable force
2. to counter an attacking or offensive force
3. necessary to prevent bodily injury, offensive contact, or confinement

Question 2

reasonable force

Answer 2

• force cannot be greater than what is reasonably necessary to dispel the attacking force
• the victim of an assault or battery may not turn aggressive once the assailant is incapacitated

Question 3

necessary force

Answer 3

reasonably perceived as required to rebuff an attack or confinement

Question 4

defense of persons or property

Answer 4

action taken to protect another individual or property from harm (including freeing someone subject to false imprisonment)

1. use of REASONABLE force
2. to defend or protect a 3rd party from injury
3. when the 3rd party is threatened by an attacking force

Question 5

defense of property

Answer 5

a property owner has the right to possess and safe guard his or her property from damage or dispossession

1. use of REASONABLE force
2. to protect property from damage or dispossession
3. when another person, the invader, attempts to injure or wrongfully take possession of the property

Question 6

Ejectment

Answer 6

the use of reasonable force to expel a trespasser to land

Question 7

Castle doctrin

Answer 7

a person is not required to flee his or her home if threatened by an intruder and may use any amount of force including deadly force to resist an intruder

Question 8

rightfull repossession

Answer 8

an owner of personal property generally has the right to repossess, by force if necessary, a chattel that has been wrongfully taken or withheld

1. use of reasonable force
2. to retake possession of personal property
3. of which the owner has been wrongfully dispossessed
4. provided the efforts to retake the chattel are made PROMPTLY after the original dispossession or denial of possession occurs

Question 9

wrongful denial of possession

Answer 9

most cases deal with bailments

“the owners chattel have been unlawfully denied”

Question 10

consent

Answer 10

1. voluntary acceptance of an intentionally tortuous act

2. with full knowledge or understanding of the consequences

Question 11

informed consent

Answer 11

a victim’s mental capacity; coercing is not acceptable meaning one only consented because of duress

Question 12

implied consent

Answer 12

expressed either orally or in writing, or may be implied by conduct or circumstances

Question 13

mistake

Answer 13

the good faith belief, based upon incorrect information that one is justified in committing an intentional tort under the circumstances

1. good faith conviction that one’s actions are justified
2. with the belief based up on faulty information
3. the conduct would otherwise be considered tortuous but for the erroneous belief

Question 14

privilege

Answer 14

a legal justification to engage in otherwise tortuous conduct in order to accomplish a compelling social goal
- privilege presumes that the intentional fort is legally justified because of the higher purpose to to be achieived

Question 15

necessity

Answer 15

the tortfeasor is justified in engaging in an intentional tort to prevent more serious injury from external force

1. committing an intentional tort
2. to avert more serious injury
3. caused by a force other than the tortfeasor
4. and the torfeasor’s actions were REASONABLY necessary to avert the greater harm

Question 16

for necessity to operate as a defense

Answer 16

“the more significant danger being averted must originate from a source other than the torfeasor”

• cannot protect torfeasor who creates the catastrophic condition & then must engage in an intentional tort to resolve the crises

Question 17

Public officers Immunity: service of process

Answer 17

1. process serving: method by which a defendant in a lawsuit is notified that a plaintiff has filed suit against defendant
   - sheriff has the power, either by statute or common law, to enter another person’s land to serve process

Question 18

Public officers Immunity: execution sales

Answer 18

1. execution sales: when a defendant fails to pay, a plaintiff may file a writ of execution requesting the court to order the defendant’s property sold to satisfy the judgment
   - statutes and common law empower law enforcement officials to seize and sell property to satisfy judgments (immune from liability)

Question 19

Public officers Immunity: attachment or replevin

Answer 19

1. attachment: a court ordered remedy in a law suit when a plaintiff is entitled to a remedy and the defendant is likely to dispose of his property to avoid losing it in a subsequent execution action, plaintiff may ask the court to attach the property on the plaintiffs behalf
2. replevin: a court ordered remedy when a plaintiff sues a defendant who wrongfully possess the plaintiff’s chattel and refuses to return it, plaintiff asks the court for replevin, which means that the court would order defendant to return

Question 20

Public officers Immunity: arrest by warrant

Answer 20

law enforcement acting pursuant to an arrest warrant properly order by a judge; would not hold them liable for any intentional torts as a consequence of taking suspects into custody (innocent suspects)

Question 21

Prosecutors and Judges Immunity

Answer 21

acting in the scope of their positions are privileged and immune from liability for their actions

Question 22

Warantless arrest

Answer 22

1. when a police witness a felony, they may arrest immediately
2. citizens arrest: private citizens take suspected criminals into custody; citizens may take suspect into custody if they witness them commit a felony or breach of the peach

Question 23

Reasonable discipline

Answer 23

1. use of reasonable force
2. by a parent, guardian, or authorized individual against a child
3. to maintain order or punish unacceptable misconduct