I. Mr. Stevens is fed up with his nosey neighbor Mrs. Crabtree. Mr. Stevens telephones Mrs.

Crabtree’s
sister, Carol, and tells her that he believes that Mrs. Crabtree was convicted of prostitution when she was
younger and that she still earns extra money working for an escort service. The statement is false and
Mrs. Crabtree is so shocked when she hears about the phone call, she faints, falls and hits her head on a
table.

1. What intentional tort would Mrs. Crabtree most likely be able to successfully sue Mr. Stevens
for? Explain why that intentional tort is most likely to be asserted.
The intentional Tort that she will likely be able to successfully sue for is defamation. The reason being
because he intentionally told a 3rd party defamertory statements that were untrue and harmed the
reputation of Mrs Crabtree as well as lowered their opinions of her. And her fainting and hitting her head
was unintentional but he may still be liable.
II. Bill and Ted are best friends and are always playing practical jokes on each other. One day, Bill
purchases a nerf knife and pair of nylons. As Ted is leaving work with his boss, Patsy, Bill jumps out
with the nylons over his head pointing the knife and yells, "Your money or your wife". Ted realizes it is
Bill but decides to play along. Ted grabs Patsy by the arm and says "Take my wife, please". At this point,
Patsy faints. Bill and Ted have a good laugh, and then Bill decides to take and keep Patsy's purse to make
her think it was a real robbery. Patsy sues Bill for assault, battery and conversion.

2. Applying the elements of the tort of assault, will Patsy prevail in her suit for assault? Explain

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your answer.
Yes I do believe Patsy will prevail. Even though it was a prank and Bill and Ted are buddies, she

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still had a reason to believe that she was in danger of being harmed. And even though the threat

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was not real, it was completely reasonable for her to feel that she was in danger and it was Bills

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actions that made her feel that way.
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3. Applying the elements of the tort of battery, will Patsy prevail in her suit for battery? Explain
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your answer
I do not think that she will prevail in her suit for battery because she was never physically
contacted by Bill. The threat of assault is what lead to her fall, but she was never actually
harmfully touched.
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4. Applying the elements of the tort of conversion, will Patsy prevail in her suit for conversion?
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Explain your answer.

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It depends on if he returned the purse after the joke was over. By the verbiage of what was written
it seems that he did keep the purse and did not return it, which in that case I think Patty’s case
would prevail. But if he kept it to run the joke out, and returned it later than no I do not think that
her case would prevail.
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II. April owns a 1969 VW van which has frequently been popping out of gear. April plans to have the
van repaired the next time she gets paid. While late for work one day, she parks the van on a steep hill
and forgets to put on the parking brake. Later the van pops out of gear and rolls down the hill into an
power pole. The pole falls and sparks from the broken electrical line ignite a grass fire. The fire spreads
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a short distance to a shed that Robert uses to store fireworks. The fireworks shed explodes and a piece of
the roof strike and injure a passing motorist, John. John sues April for negligence and requests $25,000 in
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damages.

5. List and apply each of the four element of a suit for negligence to the facts to determine if John
can recover from April.
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Duty of Care: I would say that April did have a Duty of Care to make sure that her car was parked
safely. Although she did not have a duty of care to the firework shed, which is what caused the
significant damages, and injury. Therefore I do not think John can recover this from April
Breach of Duty of care: I think this one applies the same as the first, as April did not have a
specific duty of care to the firework shed. And didn’t specifically neglect any duty that was there.
Injury/Damage: John can recover this one from April. Because April made the decision to drive to
work that day knowing her car was not working properly, and the effect of that lead to Johns

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 injuries.

6. Are there any defenses that April could assert which might relieve her of liability for John's
injury?
Explain your answer.
I would say that she could use Superseding Interfering Forces as a counter because of the fire
work shed that she had no control over. And the lack of safety precautions that were taken by the
owner of the shed.
Also she may have a counter as Contributory to Fault in comparative negligence because of the
situation with someone having a fire work shed that was hazardous.

7. Under what tort might John sue Robert, the owner of the fireworks shed? Explain your
answer.
I think he could sue Robert under the Strict Liability Tort, considering having a shed full of
fireworks in a residential or highly populated area would be an abnormally dangerous behavior.

III. Late one Halloween night, Daphne, dressed up as the tooth fairy on acid, decides to take a shortcut
through Mrs. White's large, unfenced backyard, and she falls into an open grave that Mrs. White had dug
for her dog that died earlier in the day. Daphne breaks her leg as she falls and is unable to crawl out of

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the grave. Later in the evening, Jason is also taking a shortcut through Mrs. White's yard, and when
Daphne hears him, she raises herself out of the grave and screams for help. Jason fears for his safety,

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screams and wets his pants.

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8. Daphne sues Mrs. White claiming that Mrs. White negligently maintained the property. Will
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Daphne prevail in her negligence suit? Explain your answer.
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She will not because it she wasn’t a child that become enthralled with an object and unwillingly
got hurt on it. She trespassed, and because it was a booby trap or something and was there with
purpose the liability falls on Daphne
9. Jason sues Daphne claiming that she caused him to fear for his safety. Will Jason prevail in his
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suit for the tort of assault? Explain your answer.

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No because there was no clear implication of a threat. Especially considering it was Halloween.
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Daphne did not act out of malice, she was acting as any reasonable human would in her situation
just trying to get help.
10. Mrs. White sues Jason for crossing onto her property without her permission. Will Mrs. White
prevail in her suit for the tort of trespass? Explain your answer.
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She will not because Jason did not cause any harm to the property. Even though he was
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trespassing, he did not cause any damage to the land.

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