1. CHAPTER 5 Civil Law and Procedure
11/10/2018
CHAPTER 5 Civil Law and Procedure
5-1 Private Injuries v. Public Offenses
5-2 Intentional Torts, Negligence, and Strict Liability
5-3 Civil Procedure
LAW

2. 5-1 Private Injuries v. Public Offenses
GOALS
Distinguish a crime from a tort
Identify the elements of torts
Explain why one person may be responsible for another’s tort
Chapter 5

3. HOW DO CRIMES AND TORTS DIFFER?
Offense against society - Crime
Brought by the government
Government is known as the prosecution
Prosecution has the burden of proof – beyond a reasonable doubt
Defendant loses if found guilty
Usual penalty is a prison sentence
Offense against individual – Civil or Tort
Brought by private citizens
Person bringing action is known as the plaintiff
Plaintiff has the burden of proof – preponderance of the evidence
Defendant loses if found liable
Usual penalty is money damages
Chapter 5

4. What’s Your Verdict
K.C. Jones was a railroad engineer on a passenger train that ran up and down the West Coast. A vocal advocate of railroads, he nonetheless often violated railroad policies. For example, he routinely sent text messages to members of a railroad hobby group while the train was in motion and invited guests into the driver’s cab to let them run the train for short moments. His managers knew of his behavior but did nothing to prevent it. One day while sending a text, he missed a red signal and crashed his train into another, resulting in 11 deaths and hundreds of injuries.
Does K.C.’s conduct represent a criminal or civil wrong or both?
K.C. committed the crime of manslaughter (11 counts) and the tort of negligence.
The railroad company was also held to be vicariously liable for the injuries and deaths under the master-servant rule, employer is liable for the conduct of their employees.
Chapter 5

5. ELEMENTS OF A TORT Duty legal obligation to do or not do something
Not to injure another
Not to interfere with the property rights of another
Not to interfere with the economic rights of another
Breach of Duty Violation of the duty
Must be proved to collect damages
Intentional tort – intended to inflict harm by action
Unintentional tort – harm is a result of negligence
Strict liability - only prove that the tort occurred and that the defendant was responsible ie: product safety ie:  tiger rehabilitation center, no matter how strong the tiger cages are, if an animal escapes and causes damage and injury, the owner is held liable
Chapter 5

6. ELEMENTS OF A TORT Injury harm that is recognized by the law
Must be proven that injury was the result of the breach
No injury, no tort
Causation proof that the breach caused the injury
Proximate cause – reasonably foreseeable that a breach of duty will result in an injury
Chapter 5

7. RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANOTHER’S TORTS
Vicarious liability
When one person is liable for the actions/conduct of another based solely on the relationship between the two ie: employer/employee, parent/child, employer/agent
Chapter 5