gbl hw3

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Apr 3, 2024

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Torts Law REVIEW QUESTIONS (1) Identify the legal requirements (elements) that a Plaintiff in a defamation lawsuit must prove to succeed. Is it more or less difficult to win a defamation case as a plaintiff if the plaintiff is a public figure and why? In order to succeed, a Plaintiff would need to prove that there was an untrue statement about them, the statement is unprivileged, and it was purposely or accidentally published to a third party. It would be more difficult if they were a public figure because they have to prove how the defendant was purposely spreading false statements. (2) Helen was driving her vehicle 3 miles over the speed limit when she drove through a red light and hit Mike on his bicycle while crossing the street. Mike was crossing the street by riding his bicycle through the pedestrian crossing path and did not see the vehicle Helen was driving because he was too busy typing a text message on his cell phone. Mike suffered extensive injuries and sued Helen for negligence. What Mike must prove to succeed in the lawsuit? What defense(s) Helen may provide to defend herself in this negligence case? Does it make any deference in which state the case arose and filed and why? In order for Mike to succeed, duty of care, breach of duty, actual cause, proximate cause, and damages. For Helen to defend herself, she must provide superseding event, assumption of risk, contributory negligence, and comparative negligence. Yes, it matters what state the case is in because some states have different laws. (3) Please determine for each of the following if there is a conversion to chattel or trespass to chattel or no tort and why? (a) Bob borrowed his friend’s BMW to pick up his girlfriend from the airport and return it back to his friend by 5 pm. Page 1 of 4
Due to a major accident on the way back home, Bob waited in traffic for 3 and half hours which caused Bob to return the vehicle at 8 pm. For this situation, there would be no tort. While Bob ended up returning the car after the allowed time slot of 5pm, he was not purposely keeping it over time or not returning the car. Since the delay was due to an unforeseen circumstance, and Bob was not at fault for it, he would have no tort. (b) Jim left his two-year-old dog with his neighbor Ken so he can watch it for two days while Jim was on business trip. Ken lost his patience when the dog was barking all the time and he started hitting the dog with his broom causing some trauma on the dog’s body. In this case, there would be conversion. When it comes to conversion, this would likely fall under destruction or alteration of the owner’s property. Since Ken ended up leaving some trauma on the body of the dog, there would be evidence against him as well. (c) Mike installed his sprinkler at the corner of his property so he can water his grass. Because the sprinkler was too close the property line, when Mike turned on the sprinkler some of the water started falling on the neighbor’s property. For this situation, there would be no tort. In this case, nothing was being specifically put onto the neighbor’s property. Along with that, the sprinkler water that ends up going onto the neighbor’s property is accidental and was not purposeful of Mike. (d) Kim loves the outdoors and especially her flower garden. The neighbor’s cat is a frequent visitor of the garden and likes to sleep on the plants and flowers which often cause damages. Kim is sick of the cat and upset about the damages and one day she poisoned the neighbor’s cat. In this case, there would be conversion. This would happen to fall under destruction or altercation of the owner’s property. Page 2 of 4
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