Civil Law

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Civil Law and Procedure
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How do crimes differ from Torts

• 1. A crime is an offense against society.
• 2. A tort is a private or civil wrong.
• It is an offense against an individual
• The inured person can sue for damages (a monetary
  award intended to compensate for harm done)

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How do crimes differ from Torts
One act can be both crime (fine or jail) and tort
(money damages) Money is intended to compensate
for injury.
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After an exhausting day of skiing, Josephina was
driving home near sunset. She dozed off
momentarily and crossed the highway dividing
lane. She then crashed head-on into Johns panel
truck. Both drivers were seriously injured, and
their vehicles were totaled. Although
Josephina was asleep at the time, has she
violated any rights of the other driver?
Crime Reckless driving Tort injured the
Johns property
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Elements of a Tort?
1. Duty - legal obligation owed another to do or
not to do something? Usually defined by state
laws 2. Breach -Violation of Duty 3. Injury
(recognized by law) 4. Causation proof that the
breach caused the injury
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Elements of a Tort?
Duty
Judge will decide if duty exists using state case
and statutory law and occasionally federal
law. Duties caused by tort law 1. duty not to
inure another (bodily, reputation, invasion of
privacy) 2. duty not to interfere with the
property rights of others (example trespassing)
3. duty not to interfere with the economic
rights of others. (example right to contract)
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Elements of a Tort?
Violation of Duty
Breach of duty is almost always a question of
fact for the Jury to decide Three types of
mental states at the time of the
tort Intentional, Negligence, Strict
Liability.
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Elements of a Tort?
Causation
Proximate Cause - the amount of cause exists
when it is reasonably foreseeable that a
particular breach of duty will result in a
particular injury (Association of breach and
injury) All persons, including minors, are
personally responsible for their conduct and
therefore liable for their torts. Even children
or insane persons may be held liable for injuring
others.
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Elements of a Tort?
Causation
Vicarious liability when one person is liable
for the torts of another. In some states have
parental responsibility laws. They require
parents make restitution for their childs acts.
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Elements of a Tort?
Causation
What parties might be held responsible for
another persons tort?
Parents (for their children) Employers (for their
employees)
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Hunt was taking riding lessons from Saddleback
Stables. Patterson, the Saddleback instructor,
was a skilled rider although only 15 years old.
Nevertheless, during a lesson while leading the
horse Hunt was riding Patterson negligently
dropped the bridle. As a result, the horse
bolted and Hunt was thrown to the ground and
inured. Who was liable for Hunts injuries?
Patterson would be Saddleback Stables also
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Intentional Torts, Negligence, and Strict
Liability 5-2
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Intentional Torts

• Torts in which the defendant possessed the intent
  or purpose to inflict the resultant injury?
• Defendant intended either the injury or threat.
• Indent to produce injury not required.

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Intentional Torts
1. Assault 2. Battery 3. False Imprisonment 4.
Defamation 5. Invasion of privacy 6. Trespass 7.
Conversion 8. Interference with Contractual
Relations. 9. Fraud
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Intentional Torts
Assault
Intentionally threatens to injure another . Must
be believable with ability to carry it out. from
the viewpoint of the potential victim. Can be
physical or offensive sexual.
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Question
Spencer thought willis had swindled him. Spencer
told Wills that he was going to beat your face
to a pulp. Was there assault? Spencer is
elderly and totally blind. Was there assault.
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Intentional Torts
Battery
An unlawful or harmful touching Shooting,
pushing, spitting on, etc. Assault usually comes
before battery If contact is not intentional then
no battery No battery if action justified
(self-defense)
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Intentional Torts
false imprisonment

• Depriving a person of freedom of movement without
  consent or without privilege.
• locked in car, threatened to stay in one place,
  handcuffed.
• Merchants may detain a person if they have a
  reasonable basis for believing the person was
  shoplifting.

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Question
While Augusto was driving Sharon on a date to the
theater, she became angry and told him to stop
the car and let her out. Augusto refused and
increased his speed to make it impossible for
Sharon to get out. He kept her in the car this
way for one half hour. Was Sharon falsely
imprisoned. Yes
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Question
Edna was dressed in jeans, old tennis shoes, and
a torn, faded shirt when she went shopping in an
expensive high-fashion department store. A
security officer became suspicious of her because
of her mode of dress. As Edna was leaving, she
was stopped and asked to empty her pockets.
Outraged, she said, Leave me alone. When she
tried to leave, the security officer produced
handcuffs and said If you dont cooperate, Ill
cuff you until the police get here. Was this
false imprisonment. The security officer did not
have a reasonable basis for detaining Edna.
Therefore, she was falsely imprisoned.
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Intentional Torts
Defamation
False statements made to injure ones
reputation. Must be false Someone else must have
heard or read. Bring the victim into disrepute,
contempt, or ridicule by others.
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Intentional Torts
Defamation
Slander - if spoken (you must show that you
suffered an actual physical loss) Liable - if
written (assumed to have suffered a loss so
damages do not have to be shown to the
court) Statements about public officials or
prominent personalities does not count unless
statements are made with malice.
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Intentional Torts
Invasion of Privacy
Unwelcome, unlawful intrusion into ones private
life so as to cause outrage, mental suffering,
humiliation. Protected when you have a reasonable
expectation of privacy Freedom from commercial
exploitation of ones name, picture or
endorsement without permission.
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Public figures give up some rights when they step
into the public domain.
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Intentional Torts
Trespass
Entering the realty of another without the
owners consent. Can also be interference with
property such as dumping garbage onto anothers
property. Intent to be on the property required,
but intent to Trespass is not required.
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Intentional Torts
Conversion
Property owners right to do what they would like
with their own property is violated. The right is
violated if the property is stolen, destroyed, or
used in a manner inconsistent with the owners
rights.
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Question
Sanchez went on a three-week vacation . He left
the key to his house with his neighbor, Buckley.
Without permission, Buckley used the key to get
into Sanchezs garage to borrow Sanchezs new
chain saw. Buckley used the chain saw for two
weeks to cut up nine cords of firewood. When
Sanchez returned home and discovered what had
happened, he sued Buckley. Is this correct? What
can he recover? He can recover the rental value
of the chain saw, or he could let Buckley keep
the chain saw and sue for the price of a new one.
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Intentional Torts
Interference with Contractual Relations
If a third party encourages a breach on contract
they may be liable in tort to the nonbreaching
party.
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Question
A brilliant scientist had a long-term employment
contract to do genetic research at a famous
university. A competing research laboratory
persuaded the scientist to breach the agreement
and come to work for it. As a result, the
university could sue the scientist for breach of
contract. In addition, the university could sue
the laboratory for the tort of interference with
contractual relations.
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Intentional Torts
Fraud
Intentional misrepresentation of an existing
important fact. The misrepresentation must be
relied on and cause financial injury. Typically a
statement of opinion is not considered fraudulent.
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Question
Waters advertised that he possessed expertise in
tax matters. Relying on such advertising,
Midwest Supply had Waters prepare its federal
income tax return. Waters assigned the
preparation of the return to a new employee who
was not qualified, and the tax return was
defective. Midwest was required to pay
additional taxes and sued Waters for damages.
The jury returned a verdict in favor of Midwest
for extra damages of 100,000 to punish Waters.
Judgement was entered on this verdict and Waters
appealed.
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Question
Judgement was affirmed. The defendant had
misrepresented to the public that tax returns
prepared by it were prepared by experts. The new
employee preparing the Midwest returns was not
qualified. He was a former construction worker
and did not have nay special training in tax
return preparation. The claim of Waters that
expert service was provided his clients was
fraudulent. The damages were therefore properly
awarded.
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Question
Which of the intentional Torts are torts against
persons and which are intentional torts against
property?
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(No Transcript)
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Elements of a Tort?
Violation of Duty
Breach of duty is almost always a question of
fact for the Jury to decide Three types of
mental states at the time of the
tort Intentional, Negligence, Strict
Liability.
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Negligence
The most common tort Intent not required only
carelessness.
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Negligence
The difference between negligence and intentional
torts involves Motivation. The person who commits
a negligent tort does not deliberately set out to
cause personal or property injury, but causes
injury through carelessness. The person who
commits an intentional tort commits a deliberate
injury.
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Negligence
Reasonable-man standard-ones legal obligations
toward other people. DUTY - The duty requires
that we act with the care prudence and good
judgement of a reasonable person so as not to
cause injury to others. CAUSATION AND INJURY
the violation of the duty must be the proximate
cause of the injury.
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Question
Britt was driving home late one rainy night after
drinking alcohol all evening. She raced down
residential streets at speeds up to fifty miles
per hour with only one working headlight.
Meanwhile, Yee was slowly backing her station
wagon out of her driveway, but she failed to
look both ways when she should have. Britt
rammed into the right rear end of Yees car.
Yees station wagon was badly damaged, and she
was injured. Can Yee collect from Britt?
A reasonable person would drive at a safe speed
and only when sober with working lights. So yes
Yee could collect property damage and personal
injury damage.
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Defenses to Negligence
1. Contributory Negligence 2. Comparative
negligence 3. Assumption of risk.
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Contributory Negligent
If the plaintiffs own negligence was a partial
cause of the injury they cannot recover and
money. Does not matter if you were only a little
negligent.
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Question
Britt and Yee If Yee backed up without looking
left or right could Yee Still recover damages?
Not if Yee was in a state that recognizes
contributory negligence. It does not matter if
one party was more negligent than the other.
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Comparative Negligence
Applies when a plaintiff in a negligence action
is partially at fault. The plaintiff is awarded
damages but they are reduced in proportion to the
plaintiffs negligence. Cannot recover if you are
more at fault then defendant. Most states have
this.
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Assumption of Risk
If plaintiffs are aware of a danger, but decide
to subject themselves to the risk, that is a
defense. They cannot recover
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Elements of a Tort?
Violation of Duty
Breach of duty is almost always a question of
fact for the Jury to decide Three types of
mental states at the time of the
tort Intentional, Negligence, Strict
Liability.
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Strict Liability
This liability exist even though the defendant
was not negligent. The defendant is liable if
they were engaged in a particular activity that
resulted in injury. Blasting, crop dusting,
dangerous animals ownership.
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Strict Liability
Under strict liability the manufacturer and any
seller in the chain of distribution are liable to
any buyer of the defective product who is injured
by it. Selling of goods that are unreasonably
dangerous. Strict Liability is necessary because
negligence often is difficult to prove, and
without it the victim would not be compensated.
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Question
Mrs. Lamb went to a grocery store and placed a
carton of carbonated soft drink in her shopping
cart. One of the bottles exploded and the broken
glass cut her leg. Can she collect in tort from
the grocery store or the bottler?
Mrs. Lamm could collect from either the store or
the bottler,
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Elements of a Tort?
Duty - legal obligation owed another to do or not
to do something? Usually defined by state
laws Violation of Duty (The activity and injury
sustained substitutes in strict liability
cases.) Injury Causation - breach of duty that
caused the injury.
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Question
With a partner come up with a scenario that would
fall under strict liability. What type of
evidence would be needed to prove the tort in
court?
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Vicarious Liability
When one person is liable for the torts of
another person. Sometimes parents are responsible
for the torts of their children? Example would be
a business being responsible for the actions of
their employees.
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Civil Procedure

• 5-3

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Show me the Money
What type of remedy can a victim of a tort expect?
injunction and damages
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Show me the Money Damages
Damages - awarded to the injured party to
compensate for loss caused by tort. Compensatory
damages awarded to place the injured party in
the same financial position. Punitive Damages -
Awarded as punishment for defendants malice.
(Available for intentional torts) Malice -
deliberate intention to cause the injury.
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Civil Action Procedure

The civil action procedures includes
the Plaintiff - party who brings a civil action
to enforce a private right. Defendant - Party
whom the civil action is brought against.
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Civil Case Trial
Each Trial has

Jury - body of impartial citizens that listen to
witnesses, review evidence and decide issues of
fact. 6 to 12 Have right to trial by Jury but if
both plaintiff and defendant forgo this right
there does not need to have one.
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Civil Case Trial

Judges and Juries serve different roles Judges
always decide any issues of Law. Jury decide
issues of fact If the plaintiff and defendant
agree you can have no jury and then the judge
decides both the issues of law and the issues of
fact.
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Civil Trial Procedure

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Civil Trial Procedure

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Civil Case Trial
Each Trial has

Opening Statement - they briefly outline what the
plaintiff or the defendant will try to
prove. Evidence - includes anything the judge
allows to be presented to the jury to prove or
disprove the alleged facts. Testimony -
statements made by witnesses under oath.
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Civil Case Trial
Each Trial has

Witness - someone who has personal knowledge of
the facts Expert Witness - witness who posses
superior knowledge about important facts.
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Civil Case Trial
Each Trial has

Witnesses that do not want to be there Subpoena
- written order by the judge commanding a witness
to appear in court to give testimony. Contempt of
Court - willful, unexcused failure to appear in
court. (Can be jailed without a trial).
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Civil Trial Procedure

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Civil Case Trial
Each Trial has

Closing Statements - each attorney summarizes the
case, trying to persuade jury or judge to their
side. Instructions to the Jury - tell the jury
what rules of law apply to the case. The jury
then needs to apply the fact. Example It is
illegal to drive above the speed limit. (Law).
They need to decide if he was speeding (Fact)
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Civil Trial Procedure

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Civil Case Trial
Each Trial has

Jury Deliberation - they secretly talk about the
case and make a decision. Preponderance of the
Evidence - the majority (51) of the evidence
supports the plaintiffs case. Vote- does not
need to be unanimous to find guilty. 10 out of
12 most times
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Civil Trial Procedure

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Civil Case Trial
Each Trial has

Verdict - is the jurys decision. Judgement - the
final result of the trial. Normally a sum of
money. If either party feels that there was an
error in trial they can appeal to higher
court.
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What if they do not Pay?

Plaintiff may obtain a writ of execution- the
court can seize and sell property of the
defendant.