Does Anne have a valid intentional tort claim?
PART ONE – Case Scenarios – 6 points each
- Harris wakes up in the middle of the night when he hears a noise downstairs. He grabs his handgun, goes downstairs, and sees two people in his living room. Without speaking, he begins firing and kills two teenagers. The teenagers, who were found to be unarmed, were apparently trying to steal a large screen television from Harris’ house. Argue for or against Harris’ self-defense claim at his trial for murder.
- Anne is sitting on a bench in Farragut Square one spring day, drinking from a clearly marked bottle of Coca Cola. Some months later, Anne is surprised to see herself in a Super Bowl Coke commercial, depicting her sitting on the bench in the park. No one from Coca Cola had ever sought her permission, but Coke argues that it is permissible to take the picture of anyone in a public place. Does Anne have a valid intentional tort claim? Why or why not?
- Valerie enters a Safeway store in Alexandria to shop. Fifteen minutes before she arrived, a store employee dropped a carton of eggs on the floor while stocking a shelf. The employee continued to stock the shelf, intending to mop up the broken eggs after he finished stocking. Valerie approaches the display where eggs are sold, and not seeing the broken eggs on the floor, slips and falls, and sustains a severe back injury. Analyze the chances of Valerie’s claim against Safeway using the process discussed in class and in your text. If she were to prevail, how would Valerie’s damages be calculated by the jury?
- In a television interview, a politician calls a rival candidate a “loser”, a “slimy bribe taker”, and “an unqualified candidate because he was born in Canada”. Suppose there is no proof that the candidate ever lost an election, ever took a bribe, and was born in Canada to an American citizen mother. Evaluate EACH statement by the politician as to whether the statement constitutes slander. Please use the proper method of evaluating each element of a defamation claim.
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