Battery

Question 1

Intentional tort

Answer 1

Battery is an intentional tort which requires P to prove D’s intentional conduct caused P’s harm.

Question 2

Intent

Answer 2

D intended to cause contact with P’s person/connected thing(s).
Transferred intent applies.

Question 3

Causation

Answer 3

D’s voluntary/affirmative conduct causes contact.

Question 4

Harm

Answer 4

As a result of D’s contact, P suffers bodily harm or offense.
Harm: physical injury, illness, disease, impairment, death.
Offense: reasonable-person standard, or D knows that contact is highly offensive to P’s sense of personal dignity.

Question 5

P’s recovery

Answer 5

Under the eggshell plaintiff rule, D is liable for the full extent of P’s harm, even if the extent is unforeseeable due to P’s heightened sensitivities, as long as the type of harm P suffered was foreseeable.
P recovers compensatory damages for personal injury:
* pain & suffering (emotional distress)
* medical bills (physical injury)
* lost wages (due to physical injury)
P recovers punitive damages if D acted outrageously / with malice.
P recovers nominal damages if P cannot prove actual harm.

Question 6

D’s defenses (6)

Answer 6

1. Consent: P gave actual (express) / apparent / presumed (implied) / emergency consent.
2. Self-defense: D reasonably believed the force was necessary & proportionate to P’s force. D retreated before using the force. P did not withdraw before D used the force. D was not the initial aggressor.
3. Property defense: D reasonably believed P was intruding/about to intrude. D asked P to stop (or knew it would be useless). D used reasonably proportionate means.
4. Merchant’s privilege: D was a seller, reasonably believed P committed theft, D used reasonable force on/near merchant’s premises, for a reasonable time.
5. Defense to third parties: D reasonably believed that the 3rd person was entitled to use force for self-defense, and the defense was immediately necessary.
6. Child discipline: D was a parent, used reasonable force/confinement to discipline child’s behavior / D was a teacher, used reasonable force to maintain order/safety.