Episode 2.1: An Overview of Intentional Torts — Transcript

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1. 0:02episode three overview of intentional
2. 0:06torts the Prima fascia cases for the
3. 0:09five traditional intentional
4. 0:12torts as described in episode two tort
5. 0:16causes of action can be categorized into
6. 0:19three main types of
7. 0:22liability intentional torts are civil
8. 0:25wrongs caused more or less deliberately
9. 0:29by the tor feeld
10. 0:31negligence an unintentional tort is a
11. 0:35civil wrong caused by the defendant's
12. 0:38carelessness or failure to take
13. 0:40reasonable
14. 0:42precautions and finally under certain
15. 0:45circumstances courts impose strict
16. 0:47liability even though the plaintiff
17. 0:49cannot establish that the harm was
18. 0:51caused deliberately or even that it
19. 0:54could have been avoided by the exercise
20. 0:56of reasonable care in this episode we're
21. 1:00going to give you an overview of
22. 1:02intentional torts focusing on the five
23. 1:05traditional intentional tort causes of
24. 1:08action battery assault false
25. 1:12imprisonment trespass and conversion
26. 1:15we'll cover each of these in more detail
27. 1:18in future episodes we'll also introduce
28. 1:21a few additional intentional torts in
29. 1:23later episodes including intentional
30. 1:26infliction of emotional distress also
31. 1:29known as outrage and defamation also
32. 1:33known as slander and Lial each of the
33. 1:36five intentional torts covered in this
34. 1:39episode is described in a section of the
35. 1:42second restatement of torts for example
36. 1:46battery is defined in the second
37. 1:48restatement section 18 an actor is
38. 1:51subject to liability to another for
39. 1:53battery if he acts intending to cause a
40. 1:57harmful or offensive contact with the
41. 2:00person of the other or third person or
42. 2:03an imminent apprehension of such a
43. 2:05contact and an offensive contact with
44. 2:08the person of the other directly or
45. 2:10indirectly
46. 2:11results this rule is a reasonably
47. 2:14accurate description of the
48. 2:15circumstances in which courts have
49. 2:17imposed liability for battery it
50. 2:20introduces several distinct Concepts
51. 2:23courts typically described these
52. 2:25Concepts as the elements of the Prima
53. 2:28fascia case different courts or even the
54. 2:31same court in different opinions might
55. 2:34refer to these elements using slightly
56. 2:36different terms the key is to master the
57. 2:39basic concepts so that you can recognize
58. 2:42them even when a court uses slightly
59. 2:45different
60. 2:46labels let's take the language from the
61. 2:48second restatement and break it down
62. 2:51into the basic
63. 2:53concepts second restatement section 18
64. 2:58battery an act doctor is subject to
65. 3:01liability to another for battery if
66. 3:04he
67. 3:06acts intending to cause a harmful or
68. 3:10offensive contact with the person of the
69. 3:12other or a third person or an imminent
70. 3:16apprehension of such a contact
71. 3:19and an offensive contact with the person
72. 3:22of the other directly or indirectly
73. 3:26results we can restate this in a way
74. 3:29that's a little little more
75. 3:31straightforward to hold the defendant
76. 3:34we'll use the shorthand D here liable
77. 3:37for battery the plaintiff will use the
78. 3:40shorthand P must establish one that de
79. 3:45acted
80. 3:47volitionally two that D intended to
81. 3:51cause a harmful or offensive
82. 3:54contact three that a harmful or
83. 3:57offensive contact actually occurred and
84. 4:02four that the contact that occurred was
85. 4:05caused by d's volitional
86. 4:09act we can simplify it even further
87. 4:12using a kind of shorthand that judges
88. 4:14and attorneys typically
89. 4:17use the Prima fascia case of battery is
90. 4:21one act two intent three harmful or
91. 4:27offensive contact four four
92. 4:31causation note that there's some extra
93. 4:34language we haven't dealt with under
94. 4:36element two intending to cause a harmful
95. 4:39or offensive contact with the person of
96. 4:41the other or a third person or an
97. 4:44imminent apprehension of such a
98. 4:48contact that language is describing the
99. 4:50doctrines of person-to-person
100. 4:53transferred intent and tort to tort
101. 4:56transferred intent we'll deal with those
102. 4:59later in the next
103. 5:01episode we can use the same kind of
104. 5:03shorthand to describe the Prima fascia
105. 5:06cases for the other intentional
106. 5:08torts second restatement section 21
107. 5:12assault an actor is subject to liability
108. 5:15to another for assault if he
109. 5:19acts intending to cause a harmful or
110. 5:22offensive contact with the person of the
111. 5:24other or third person or an imminent
112. 5:28apprehension of such a
113. 5:30contact notice that we have some of the
114. 5:32same extra language about transferred
115. 5:35intent that we'll deal with later but
116. 5:38setting that
117. 5:39aside and the other is thereby
118. 5:43put notice that we're using the blue
119. 5:46color there in
120. 5:49such imminent
121. 5:52apprehension to hold D liable for
122. 5:55assault P must establish one that D
123. 5:59acted
124. 6:00volitionally two that D intended to
125. 6:04cause imminent apprehension of a harmful
126. 6:07or offensive
127. 6:09contact three that imminent apprehension
128. 6:13of a harmful or offensive contact
129. 6:15actually occurred and four that the
130. 6:18apprehension that occurred was caused by
131. 6:21d's volitional act or in our shorthand
132. 6:25the elements of the Prima fascia case of
133. 6:28assault are
134. 6:30one act two
135. 6:34intent three imminent apprehension by P
136. 6:38of harmful or offensive contact with p's
137. 6:42person four causation let's take a
138. 6:46moment to clarify the relationship
139. 6:48between assault and battery in
140. 6:52torts an assault is where D causes the
141. 6:55imminent apprehension of a harmful or
142. 6:58offensive
143. 7:00contact and a battery is where that
144. 7:03harmful or offensive contact actually
145. 7:06occurs so an assault can be like an
146. 7:09attempted battery that's incomplete but
147. 7:12that caused P to be aware at some point
148. 7:15that contact was imminent for example I
149. 7:19point a gun at your forehead and pull
150. 7:21the trigger fully intending to shoot you
151. 7:25but unbeknownst to me the gun is not
152. 7:28loaded and so no contact occurs assuming
153. 7:31that you were aware that I was pointing
154. 7:34the gun to your head I did cause you to
155. 7:38apprehend an imminent contact so an
156. 7:41assault has occurred but a battery has
157. 7:44not or an assault can be like a fake out
158. 7:48where I point a gun at you that's not
159. 7:50loaded and pull the trigger I know it's
160. 7:53not loaded but you don't so you think
161. 7:57contact is imminent keep in mind mind
162. 7:59though that attempts are not torts in
163. 8:02their own right in the way that
164. 8:04attempted murder is a crime in itself
165. 8:07unless the attempt amounts to a
166. 8:09different tort like
167. 8:11assault now we'll cover the other
168. 8:13intentional torts more briefly false
169. 8:16imprisonment is confinement of a person
170. 8:19to a limited area for example if I'm
171. 8:22robbing a bank and I point a gun at
172. 8:24bystanders telling them to lie down on
173. 8:27the ground and not move that that's
174. 8:29false imprisonment because I am
175. 8:31preventing them from moving or leaving
176. 8:33the bank if they see me point a gun at
177. 8:36them then there's also an assault to
178. 8:40hold D liable for false imprisonment P
179. 8:43must establish one that D acted
180. 8:47volitionally two that D intended to
181. 8:50cause confinement of P to a limited
182. 8:54area three confinement of P to a limited
183. 8:58area without P's knowledge of a
184. 9:01reasonable means of Escape actually
185. 9:04occurred and four that the confinement
186. 9:07that occurred was caused by d's
187. 9:10volitional act so the elements of the
188. 9:14Prima fascia case of false imprisonment
189. 9:17are one act two
190. 9:22intent three confinement of P to a
191. 9:26limited area without P's knowledge of a
192. 9:28reasonable means of Escape for
193. 9:33causation trespass is an invasion of
194. 9:36someone else's property
195. 9:38interest trespass to land is an invasion
196. 9:42into someone else's land for example if
197. 9:46I go hunting on private property without
198. 9:49the owner's permission that is
199. 9:51trespassed to land trespass to chattles
200. 9:55is an invasion upon another kind of
201. 9:57property like a car or a photo album or
202. 10:00an animal owned by the plaintiff for
203. 10:03example if I throw a rock at someone's
204. 10:05cow hitting it but not killing it that's
205. 10:09trespass to chattles to hold D liable
206. 10:12for trespass P must establish one that D
207. 10:17acted
208. 10:18volitionally two that D intended to go
209. 10:22to a specific location or to cause
210. 10:25contact with a specific piece of
211. 10:27property
212. 10:29three that an invasion upon land or
213. 10:32chattles of which p is in possession or
214. 10:35is entitled to possession actually
215. 10:37occurred and for
216. 10:40causation so the elements of the Prima
217. 10:43fascia case of trespass are one act two
218. 10:49intent three an invasion upon P interest
219. 10:53in land or chatt four
220. 10:58causation inversion is a more serious
221. 11:01invasion of someone else's property
222. 11:03interest in chatt for example if I throw
223. 11:06a rock at someone else's cow hitting it
224. 11:10but not killing it then that's trespass
225. 11:12to chattles but if I shoot the cow and
226. 11:16kill it or seriously injure it then
227. 11:18that's
228. 11:19conversion to hold D liable for
229. 11:22conversion P must establish one that D
230. 11:27acted
231. 11:28volitionally two that D intended to
232. 11:31cause a serious invasion of P's
233. 11:33possessory interest in
234. 11:36chatt three that a serious invasion of
235. 11:39P's possessory interest in chatt
236. 11:42actually occurred four
237. 11:45causation so the elements of the Prima
238. 11:49fascia case of conversion are one act
239. 11:53two
240. 11:55intent three a serious invasion of P's
241. 11:58possess interest in chatt four
242. 12:03causation you may have noticed that in
243. 12:05our shorthand version of each of these
244. 12:07causes of action the ACT intent and
245. 12:11causation elements are the
246. 12:13same it's really just that third element
247. 12:17the particular consequence that's
248. 12:19different