Torts Flashcards
(38 cards)
Battery
1) Intent
2) An act
3) That is harmful/offensive
4) Causation
Assault
1) An act
2) Intent to put the P in apprehension
3) of an imminent harmful/offensive contact
4) That actually causes such apprehension
Trespass to Land
1) Intent
2) Possession of the property by the P
3) Physical invasion of the property by the D
Trespass to Chattels
1) Intent
2) An act by the D that interferes with P’s right to possession of the chattel (but that is not so serious as to require D to pay the full value)
3) Causation
4) Damages
Conversion
1) Intent
2) An act by the D that interferes with P’s right to possession of the chattel that is serious enough to warrant that the D pay the full value
3) Causation
False Imprisonment
1) Intent
2) An act
3) Confinement to a bounded area
4) Causation
Defense to False Imprisonment
Shopkeeper’s privilege: (applies to LEO, farmers, merchants, transit agencies)
1) Has probable cause to believe that a theft has been committed
2) The property may be recovered by taking the offender into custody
3) Detention must be made in a reasonable manner for a reasonable amount of time
IIED
1) An act
2) Extreme/Outrageous conduct
3) Intent to cause P emotional distress
4) Causation
5) Damages
NIED
1) An act
2) Extreme/outrageous conduct
3) Negligence (instead of intent)
4) Causation
5) Damages
NIED - 3rd Person/Bystander
1) Anxiety about the safety of another
2) Close relationship with the injured party
3) Occurs w/in sensory perception as it was happening
4) Causation
5) Damages (physical impairment following the psychic trauma
NIED - Zone of Danger/Near Miss
D’s act does not physically harm the P, but it does place P in the zone of danger so that P fears for his physical safety and P suffers physical symptoms as a result
Defenses to Intentional Torts
1) Consent: Express or Implied (through custom or by law)
2) Self Defense/Defense of Others: Can use force (including deadly force) to defend self/others - No duty to retreat
3) Defense of Property: Can use non-deadly force - No duty to retreat
4) Private Necessity: Can interfere with P’s property to avoid imminent harm; D must pay for any damages caused to P’s property
5) Privilege: An excuse for committing a tort that states you had the right to act that way (i.e. pushing someone’s hand away as they are about to hit you)
Defamation
1) D published a false statement of fact
2) About the P
3) To a third party
4) And the falsity of the statement caused injury to the P
5) Culpability: Private individuals = negligence; Public figures = malice
Slander
An oral defamatory statement
Libel
A written defamatory statement
Defamation per se
Naturally harmful statements such as:
1) Accusing P of committing a crime
2) Accusing P of having an infectious disease/mental illness
3) Statement subjects P to hate/distrust
4) Statement injures P’s business or profession
Defenses to defamation
1) Truth
2) Opinion
3) Privilege
Invasion of Right to Privacy
Civil recognition of a Constitutional right
1) Intrusion of P’s affairs or seclusion
2) Appropriation of identity/likeness
3) Public disclosure of private facts
Negligence
1) Duty
2) Breach
3) Causation
4) Damages
Duty (Negligence)
Duty: A D has a duty to all foreseeable P’s in the zone of danger
Standard of Care:
General: Generally, there is a duty to act as a reasonably prudent person under the circumstances
Medical Professionals: Held to the same level of care, skill, and treatment as a reasonable healthcare provider in the same community under the circumstances
Minors: Must act as a reasonably prudent child with the same education, intelligence, and experiences under the circumstances…. Exception: Minors doing adult activities
Negligence - Duty (Premises Liability)
Invited Licensee: Duty to inspect and warn or make safe
Unknown Trespasser: Duty to refrain from intentional misconduct that injures the trespasser but no duty to warn
Known Trespasser: Duty to refrain from gross negligence and intentional misconduct that injures the trespasser and a duty to warn (w/in 24 hours)
Intoxicated Trespasser: No duty
Breach (Negligence)
D’s conduct falls below the duty of care owed to the P
Causation (Negligence)
The conduct was the cause of the P’s injury. Requires actual and proximate cause.
Actual Cause: “but for” the D’s acts, the injury would not have occurred”
Proximate Cause: Foreseeability: The injury is a foreseeable result of the act
Look out for intervening and superseding cause
Superseding Cause (Negligence)
An event that occurs after D’s initial act that substantially causes the accident. D is not liable since the initial act is not the proximate cause of P’s injuries.
