Law Essays on Intentional Torts
Intentional torts are civil wrongs based on the willful misconduct or intentional wrongs of the tortfeasor. The liability is based on the premise that individuals who intentionally invades a protected interest of another and for which there is no lawful justification, excuse is liable for the injury caused.
An intentional tort should be distinguished from negligence because of the absence of intent. However, negligent torts can be committed unintentionally when there is a conscious desire to produce a result which the law considers as tortuous. Thus, if the tortfeasor is aware that there is a certainty that an injury will result from his action, there is intentional tort.
For example, an intentional tort is committed by one person who pushes another while riding on a bicycle at full speed causing his hospitalization. The tortfeasor cannot claim as a defense that he was merely playing a joke on his friend as he should have known that injury is a necessary consequence of his action of pushing his friend while riding on a bicycle.
Another example is when an individual throws a firecracker in the middle of a crowded street. Should the explosion of the firecracker cause burns or injuries to the pedestrians the individual can be sued for intentional tort.
Transferred Intent Doctrine
If person A intends to punch person B but person B was able to repel the blow when he ducked. In the process person C was hit and he was injured as a result. Can person A claim that he had no intention of hitting person C and that he should not be held liable for the injuries suffered by person C?
No. Under the transferred-intent doctrine, a tortfeasor’s intention to cause harm to another is automatically transferred to another who is injured as a result of the tortfeasor’s deliberate and intentional conduct.
Law Essays on Categories of Intentional Torts
A. Intentional Torts against Persons
1. Assault
Assault is the intentional causing of fear or apprehension. It is considered a tort because of the premise that every person is entitled to live his life without fear of a harmful or offensive contact.
For example, a person who stalks another, follows him around where he goes or makes threats of an injury to another can be sued for intentional tort of assault. In this case, fear or anxiety is created by virtue of the threatening conduct of the tortfeasor.
However, it should be stressed that mere words alone cannot be the basis of intentional tort no matter how threatening or abusive the language may be. Thus, if a person states that he will punch him, the threat does not constitute assault.
If an individual who is carrying a baseball bat makes an attempt to hit another with it but subsequently decides to walk away from the fight, is there an intentional tort of assault? Yes. An individual who has consummated the act by causing fear and apprehension to another can be sued for assault. It is immaterial that he subsequently desisted from his action since the act was consummated from the moment he threatened to another with a baseball bat.
2. Battery
Battery is different form an assault. In battery, there is an unpermitted and intentional infliction of harmful and offensive contact with another. The basis for this liability is the right of every person to be free from any harmful or offensive contact by another. When a person intentionally inflicts a harmful or offensive contact a person’s privacy is invaded allowing him to file a suit.
If a person does not touch any part of a person’s body but he steals his purse which he is holding at the time, is there battery? Yes. To be liable for battery actual contact with any part of the person’s body is not required. If the purse is being held by the victim when it was snatched, a battery is committed. In some cases, the act which is the basis for filing a civil suit for battery may also be the same basis for filing a criminal case.
3. False Imprisonment
False Imprisonment is the intentional tort that results from the conduct of another who unlawfully confines another. The basis for the liability is the unlawful deprivation of the freedom of movement of another. To be entitled to file a suit for false imprisonment, the plaintiff needs to establish that they were unintentionally and unlawfully detained against their will for a unreasonable period of time.
If an individual is unlawfully detained by the security personnel of Wal-Mart against their will is there false imprisonment? Yes. The unlawful detention need not be in prison. Restraint can involved being confined in a mental institution, hospital, restaurant, or car without any valid reason.
B. Intentional Tort against Property
1. Trespass to Land
Trespass to Land is committed when a person wrongfully enters or stays within the premises of another person’s land. The basis for this liability is the protection accorded by law to the owners of lands who are entitled to the exclusive possession or enjoyment of his property.
Trespass to land can be committed directly or indirectly. Direct trespass to land is committed when a person enters the land of another. Indirect trespass to land is committed when a person does not enter the land of another but throws an object onto another person’s land. When the exclusive enjoyment and possession of a land is disturbed by the installation of pipes below the surface of a person’s land or when overhanging structures like telephone wires are installed over a person’s land, there is trespass to land.
If a person does not intend to cause any harm or injury to another is there trespass to land when he enters the latter’s premises? Yes. Trespass to land does not require an intention to cause harm of injury to another. It is committed when the exclusive possession of the land of a person is disturbed.
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