Intentional Torts

Professor Olivares - Fall 2024

Battery

1. Defendant intends to cause harmful or offensive contact, without plaintiff’s consent

2. Defendant intends contact to be harmful or offensive

3. The contact results

4. The resulting contact is harmful or offensive

Assault

1. Defendant intends to cause plaintiff imminent apprehension of harmful or offensive contact

2. The apprehension is one that would arouse the mind of a reasonable person

3. The plaintiff’s mental peace is invaded

False Imprisonment

1. Defendant intends to confine another without lawful privilege

2. within a limited area set by defendant

3. for any appreciable time, no matter how short

4. plaintiff is unaware of the harm or, if unaware, is physically harmed

Intentional Inflict of Emotional Distress

1. Defendant intentionally acts recklessly

2. in an extreme and outrageous manner which

3. causes plaintiff severe emotional distress 

What is extreme and outrageous conduct in an IIED claim?

1. Repeated behavior over time

2. Abuse of power

3. Conduct directed at a person the defendant knows is vulnerable 

Intent

The purpose to obtain the result or the substantial certainty that the result will follow

Transferred intent

1. Intent to harm someone but harms another person 
2. Intent to commit one tort but commits another 

Offensive contact

• Does not have to be tangible

• unconsented-to contact 

• cannot be emotional offense

Imminence

Action that will occur without significant delay 

Apprehension 

• Awareness that a harmful or offensive contact may occur

• not the same as fear 

Trespass to land

One who intends to enter or causes another to enter upon the land of another 

• intent need not be trespass, intent to enter is enough 

Conversion of chattel 

1. Intentional exercise of substantial dominion over a chattel that 

2. so seriously interferes with Plaintiff's right to control the chattel that

3. Defendant may justly be required to pay for the full value of the chattel 

Dominion

Treating chattel as if it is your own 

Trespass to chattel 

1. Physical contact or disposession of chattel that 

2. intentionally interferes with the use and enjoyment of chattel in plaintiff's posession and

3. plaintiff therefore was harmed or dispossessed of the chattel 

4. Harm must be to the owner's materially valuable interest in the physical condition, quality, or value of the chattel 

5. or the owner is deprived of the use for the chattel for a substantial time 

Affirmative defenses 

• Defenses that attempt to justify the defendant's conduct in response to the plaintiff's apparent misconduct. 

• Privileged to defend as long as force used in defense wasnt excessive in degree or kind

Self-defense 

Defendant's action could be justified as self-defense if there was 

1. an actual or reasonably apparent threat to his/her/their safety and 

2. the force employed was not excessive in degree or kind

Defense of others

A person may defend third persons under about the same circumstances as they may defend themselves

• caveat: defendant assumes the risk of reasonable mistake where they may have no defense

Defense of property 

Defendant may use reasonable force against another person who is threatening to infringe on one's possessory interest in such property

• property belongs to the possessor of land not just the owner of the land

• human life is more valuable than property 

Recapture of chattel defense

Privilege of forcible recapture is limited to more or less immediate capture.

• Once property is taken for some period of time, the owner must remedy via courts. 

Arrest and detention privilege defense

One who reasonably believes that another has tortiously taken a chattel upon his premises, or has failed to make cash payment for a chattel purchase or services rendered there, is privileged (without arresting the other) to detain them on the premises for the time necessary for a reasonable investigation of facts.

To bring an arrest and detention privilege defense, there must be

1. Reasonable cause

2. for a proper purpose

3. in a reasonable manner

4. for a reasonable amount of time

Consent defense

One can act on the reasonable appearance of consent so long as the appareance of consent was not itself induced by misrepresentation or by a basic mistake of which the defendant was aware 

Private and Public Necessity Privilege defense

Privileges of public and private necessity which are based on policy rather than the plaintiff's apparent conduct or misconduct

Private Necessity defense

Generally involves defendant trespassing or damaging another person's property to protect oneself, their property, or a small number of people.

Public necessity defense

When a defendant acts upon a reasonable belief that trespassing or damaging another's property is necessary to prevent harm to the greater community. 

• If there is a reasonable belief but it later appears that no action is needed, then defense still applies