Torts A Civil Wrong Civil harm To person or to property standard Under which your judged Prepomperous of the evidence much lower standard the criminal jury for verdict Remedy Criminal state Usually violating a statute driving while intox shop lifting standard Under which your judged Beyond reasonable doubt Unanimous for verdict Remedy fine or jail or death Why criminal higher level Because the penaltys are so severe Civil wrongs Tort Torts are black and white if you meet the criteria its torts Intentional Most common assault a threat creating reasonable apprehension in a person Battery the actual contact False Imprisonment intentional confinement of another person WITHOUT JUSTIFICATION you can have battery without assault and assault without battery Defenses Consent Sport you consented to the risk of getting hurt Self defense you are free to use lethal defenses if you are in eminent threat of serious bodily harm and or death Common sense react to danger presented Can retaliate with equal harm for protection Knife for knife squirt gun for squirt gun Flee first if able Castle theory house is your castle and can defend it with deadly force Not obligated to ask questions Stand your ground if you felt threatened with serious harm than you can shoot Not all states recognize this defense Self defense applies to self and other Defense of property court will rarely let you use deadly force for property Necessity excusable act what you did was wrong but it was necessary for the public good Rescued kid drowning in a pool even though you had to trespass to do it Unintentional he skipped Defamation either written or oral statement that hurts a persons character or reputation or character Slander and libel Slander spoken Libel written To have you must have publication announce to a third party or independent HAVE TO HAVE THIRD PART INVOLVED Per se you re guilty until proven innocent Defense for defamatory comment Truth but there is some privilege absolute legislative trial Trial and legislative can say anything and not defamatory Defense Absence of malice if youre a public figure like celebrity or sports figure or then you put yourself out there to be that figure The person who makes the defamatory statement must do it with malice to intentionally harm Very high standard to be defamatory As a public figure you have to just grow a thick skin Defense by mag or new is absence of malice Text someone and say you re a thief and they post it its not your defamation Tort Invasion of privacy Appropriation using someone s name pictures likeness voice without their consent for gain Implying they support your product Intrusion has a reasonable expectation of privacy in their own home If someone is ease dropping or wiring your phone without a court order Peeping tom False Light printing something that puts someone in a bad false light Printing a false story Fraud another intentional tort Intentional misrepresentation of a fact for gain benefit Lying for gain To have fraud 1 misstatement of a material fact 2 know statement was false 3 made with intent to deceive 4 other party must rely on that statement 5 Harm Puffery sellers talk Go to buy used car and salesman says just little old women used only on Sundays But that wasn t true This isn t fraud If he set the mileage back than yes fraud Tort Interference with Contractual Relationship 1 valid contract 2 knowledge 3 intent Company x has a sales person and you run a competing business and want to hire X so you approach X and he says he cant because an employment agreement Tell him forget it you ll pay him double He accepts and quits Disregarding a known contract Tort Trespass Going on someone else s property without permission Not liable to harm or damage done to trespasser Exception attractive nuisance Swimming pool or abandoned building magnets for people Will be their fault if an accident occurs because they want fences around pools and abandoned houses boarded up Defenses to trespass Necessity needed to rescue someone Easement permission to go on another s property A house in someones back yard like at the shore where you have to go on the other persons property to access your house Written agreement to access someone s property Taking someone s property is called trespass Trespass conversion Tort Negligence Care duty Breach Proximate cause relationship to breach of duty and harm Harm In a grocery store and someone spills milk and you slip and fall Is grocery store negligent How long has it been there 3 minutes yes 3 hours no Yes has duty to keep clean Yes breached it because sat for 3 hours Was it the cause of your fall Paying attention shoe untied fucked up But for the spilled milk would you have fell harm broken arm everyone is possessed with a duty to act as a reasonable man be aware of your surroundings just snowed 30 inches its not really expected to of had it cleaned Proximate cause example of a guy running with fireworks that killed or hurt a man Landlord has a duty to guests or invitees tenants Has a duty of reasonable care Clean safe environment Don t have that duty to trespassers Professionals you can have duty with professionals Malpractice is really negligence Remedies compensatory damages damages designed to reimburse you actual harm always awarded ruined shirt loss work days meant to make your whole to compensate you can you get punitive damages YES Punitive damages Meant to punish the wrongdoer Additional money to deter future repeats Meant to teach a lesson Defense Contributory negligence person in gorcry store contributed to his own falling texting under influence They contributed If store was at fault but you were 10 percent at fault with having your shoe tied so if they get 10 000 they can reduce the award to 9 000 cause you contributed to your own harm Some states have a 50 rule If you can show they were 50 or more at fault they can recover nothing Contributory negligence vs comparative negligence Contributory negligence prove the injured party had any fault they get no reward no longer used Comparative negligence show 10 just reduce award Dram Shop used to apply to bars commercial establishments Served intoxicated person you knew was intoxicated and they hurt someone or themselves its equally your fault Bar owner that is Most now cover your own home too If they leave and hurt someone you re liable so take peoples keys Negligence Good Samaritan Statute you find someone hurt on side of road and by doing so cause further harm You