MN Bar Torts 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which element distinguishes the intentional tort of battery from the intentional tort of assault?
- Battery requires actual harmful or offensive contact; assault requires only apprehension of imminent contact (Correct answer)
- Battery requires specific intent to injure; assault requires only a voluntary act
- Assault requires physical contact; battery requires only the threat of contact
- Battery exists only as a criminal offense; assault may be pursued as a civil tort
Correct answer: Battery requires actual harmful or offensive contact; assault requires only apprehension of imminent contact
Battery is completed by an actual harmful or offensive contact with the plaintiff's person, while assault is the intentional creation of reasonable apprehension of imminent contact without contact occurring.
Question 2: To succeed on an intentional infliction of emotional distress (IIED) claim, the plaintiff must prove the defendant's conduct was:
- Extreme and outrageous, intentional or reckless, and caused the plaintiff severe emotional distress (Correct answer)
- Merely negligent and likely to cause emotional harm to a reasonable person
- Directed specifically at the plaintiff with a deliberate intent to humiliate
- Accompanied by physical contact or an immediate threat of physical contact
Correct answer: Extreme and outrageous, intentional or reckless, and caused the plaintiff severe emotional distress
IIED requires extreme and outrageous conduct that is intentional or reckless and causes severe emotional distress; ordinary offensive or hurtful conduct does not meet this demanding threshold.
Question 3: False imprisonment as a tort requires that the plaintiff prove they were:
- Confined to a bounded area without consent or legal justification and were aware of the confinement or suffered actual harm (Correct answer)
- Physically restrained using direct force or physical barriers and nothing else
- Detained by a government actor exercising criminal law authority
- Held against their will for a period exceeding one hour
Correct answer: Confined to a bounded area without consent or legal justification and were aware of the confinement or suffered actual harm
False imprisonment requires confinement to a bounded area, absence of consent or legal justification, and plaintiff's awareness of the confinement or actual harm; physical force is not the only permissible means of confinement.
Question 4: A defendant who intentionally enters another person's land without permission or lawful authority commits which tort, even if no actual damage to the land results?
- Trespass to land (Correct answer)
- Private nuisance
- Conversion of real property
- Negligence per se
Correct answer: Trespass to land
Trespass to land is an intentional tort completed upon unauthorized entry onto another's land, and unlike negligence claims, proof of actual damage is not required.
Question 5: Which of the following, if proven, operates as a complete defense to an intentional tort claim?
- Consent by the plaintiff to the defendant's conduct (Correct answer)
- The defendant's good faith and reasonable belief that the conduct was lawful
- The plaintiff's comparative fault in provoking or contributing to the incident
- The absence of physical injury or quantifiable damages to the plaintiff
Correct answer: Consent by the plaintiff to the defendant's conduct
Consent is a complete defense to intentional torts because a party who agrees to the conduct cannot claim it was wrongful; the other options do not fully defeat liability for intentional torts.
Question 6: Conversion differs from trespass to chattels primarily in that conversion:
- Involves such a serious interference with personal property that the defendant may be required to pay the full market value of the chattel (Correct answer)
- Requires proof that the defendant permanently and physically destroyed the chattel
- Applies to real property interests rather than personal property
- Arises only when the defendant specifically intended to permanently deprive the owner
Correct answer: Involves such a serious interference with personal property that the defendant may be required to pay the full market value of the chattel
Conversion involves a more serious interference warranting a forced sale remedy — the plaintiff can recover the full value of the item — while trespass to chattels allows only actual damages for temporary deprivation.
Question 7: A shopkeeper who detains a customer reasonably suspected of shoplifting for a reasonable time and in a reasonable manner may assert which privilege as a defense to false imprisonment?
- Shopkeeper's (merchant's) privilege (Correct answer)
- Privilege of necessity
- Defense of property privilege
- Qualified official immunity
Correct answer: Shopkeeper's (merchant's) privilege
The shopkeeper's privilege allows a retailer to detain a suspected shoplifter if the suspicion is reasonable, the detention is brief and conducted in a reasonable manner, and it occurs on or near the premises.
MN Bar Torts 2
Which element distinguishes the intentional tort of battery from the intentional tort of assault?