ch 7 tort test bank

Arthur Author wrote a defamatory letter regarding Bill Baker which he mailed to Bill, but which he did not show to anyone else.

Arthur has committed neither libel nor slander, because there has been no publication of the letter.

Arthur Author wrote a defamatory letter regarding Bill Baker which he did not show to anyone, but which he posted on a bulletin board in the laundromat.

Arthur has committed the tort of libel.

Arthur doesn't like Bradley, so he writes untrue rumors about his personal lifestyle and sexual practices which harm Bradley's reputation in the community.

Arthur is guilty of both defamation and libel.

Arthur fired a gun in the middle of the desert.He intended to fire the gun, but had no reason to believe anyone else was in the area. The bullet hit Bob, who happened to be riding his ATV across the desert.

It is unlikely that Arthur has the necessary intent to commit a tort.

The Hometown News snapped a picture of Tim Teenager as he was sleeping under a tree in the park on a warm spring day. They printed the picture on the front page of the paper. Headline read "Local citizen enjoys summer weather on lunch break."

It is unlikely that the Hometown News is guilty of any tort

Mark gave the keys to his apartment to his friend Jack so Jack could sleep after an all-night study session. When Jack walked in, Mark's roommate, Sam, was standing behind the door in the dark holding a baseball bat over his head. Jack flicked on the light and Sam saw it was Jack, so he lowered the bat before Jack noticed him.

Neither Jack nor Sam is guilty of assault

Alice was briefly married at the age of 16. She is now 28 years old and plans to marry Henry in the Spring. Henry's sister found out about Alice's first marriage and then told Harry's parents. Alice now wants to sue Henry's sister for public disclosure of private facts. Does Alice have a case against Henry's sister?

No, because marriage is a public and not a private fact

The invasion of a person's right to privacy consists of four distinct torts, which of the following does not constitute such a tort?

Publicity, which deals with statements made by Congress on the floor of Congress

Sarah Student joined a religious cult while a student at Ivory Towers State University. Her father hired a deprogrammer who spent several weeks with her during which they occasionally went on outings. After Sarah met with her boyfriend one weekend, she rejoined the cult and sued her father and the deprogrammer for false imprisonment.

Sarah will lose because she had a reasonable means of escaping and voluntarily consented to the confinement

Tim and Steve are roughhousing in the front yard of Tim's parents when Steve intentionally pushes Tim onto the neighbor's property.

Steve is a trespassor

Who owns the rivers and streams of Florida?

The state of florida

Anita included Bob's name and photograph in a list of the FBI's top ten criminals. Bob has never been convicted of a crime and is horrified by the thought of being thought a criminal.

This could either be defamation or false light

Tim Teenager has the permission of Harold Homeowner to walk across his yard on the way to school. Tim now brings twenty of his friends across the yard, and they stop to play ball.

Tim and his friends are guilty of trespass to real property, because they played ball in Harold's yard.

If a license remains upon land after his invitation has expired, he becomes

a trespasser

If a publication prints defamatory material concerning a public figure, the individual may recover compensatory damages if he can show:

actual malice

Intentional torts that involve interference with personal rights include

all of the above (battery and assault; false imprisonment and malicious prosecution; defamation and invasion of privacy)

Which of the following is a defense to an intentional tort?

all of the above (consent; self defense; defense of property)

The tort of conversion

all of the above (includes the intentional destruction of personal property; includes the use of personal property in an authorized manner; entitles the possessor to recover the full value of the converted property)

Which of the following can be raised as a defense to a claim of defamation?

all of the above (that the statement was true; that there was a constitutional privilege to comment about the plaintiff and that the statement was made without malice; that there was conditional privilege to comment on the matter alleged to the defamatory)

Invasion of privacy consists of

all of the above are invasion of privacy (appropriation; intrusion; public disclosure of private facts)

Defenses to intentional torts include:

all of the above are valid defenses (self defense and consent; defense of others and consent; self defense and defense of property)

The unauthorized use of another's name or likeliness for one's own benefit:

appropriation

Intentional conduct by one person directed at another that places the other in apprehension of immediate bodily harm or offensive contact is called

assault

Which of the following places another in apprehension of immediate bodily harm?

assault

While having something to eat for lunch in the cafeteria, Neal sees Sid in a mirror, but he is unable to escape the blow. Most likely Sid has committed the tort of:

assault and battery

Bodily contact that is harmful or offensive can give rise to the tort of:

battery

While having lunch in the cafeteria, Sid notices his best friend getting picked on by the class bully, Neal. Sid picks up a handy stick, sneaks up behind Neal and knocks him unconscious. Most likely Sid has committed the tort of:

battery only

The intentional control or dominion of another's personal property to the extent that the owner can not use it for a long time is the tort of:

conversion

The intentional exercise of dominion or control over another's personal property which so seriously interferes with the other's right of control as to justly require the payment of full value for the property is:

conversion

The tort of ____ is a false communication which is given to one person other than the person who is the subject of the communication which injures a person's reputation and good name by disgracing him and diminishing the respect in which he is held.

defamation

Which of the following is NOT characterized by publication?

defamation

Which of the following is not an invasion of defense of a person's right to privacy

defamation

Which of the following requires communication to but ONE person other than the person who is subject of the communication to be a tort?

defamation

One who publishes a false statement that results in harm to another's monetary interest, and the publisher knows the statement is false, is guilty of:

disparagement

One who speaks a false statement to a third person that results in harm to another's monetary interest, and the speaker knows the element is false, is guilty of

disparagement

The publication of a knowlingly false statement that results in harm to another's economic or monetary interests is

disparagement

A person may employ deadly force to protect his property

false

In order to sue for battery, a plaintiff must prove that he or she has received a physical injury.

false

Intentional infliction of emotional distress will protect a person from abusive language and rudeness.

false

A con artist who goes door to door and collects money for a false charity most likely commits

false pretenses

To have the tort of false light, you must show that the information communicated was

false, and communicated to many people

Which of the following is NOT a privilege?

federal

There is a ____ privilege to comment regarding public officials or public figures so long as it is done without malice.

first amendment

Which of the following is an example of personal property?

fruit on a tree

Incompetent individuals are:

generally not held liable for their torts

Clyde points a toy gun at his next door neighbor and threatens to shoot. If the neighbor brings suit for assault:

he will win if he can show that he reasonably believed the gun to be real

Harms or injuries that are torturous may be inflicted:

in all of the above ways (intentionally; negligently; without fault)

As used in tort law, ____ does not require a hostile or evil motive but rather denotes that the actor desires to cause the consequences of his act.

intent

One of the newer types of wrongdoing recognized as torturous and imposing liability upon the wrongdoer for money damages is that of:

intentional infliction of emotional distress

The following is the intentional and improper interference with the performance of a contract by inducing one of the parties not to perform it.

interference with contractual relations

Intentional interference with property does NOT include

intrusion

Viewing the private papers or emails of another person without permission is an example of

intrusion

A defamatory communication which is typewritten or printed is referred to as

libel

Handwritten, typewritten, printed, or pictorial defamation is:

libel

Mary's friend, Cindy, is a movie star and in order to maintain a defamation action, she will probably have to prove the additional element of:

malice

Mary does not want her movie-star cousin Cindy to attend a school dance; Mary phones Cindy and tells that if she leaved her house on the night of the dance, Mary will send a letter to the dean in which she'll accuse Cindy of being an ax murderess. Cindy, although she knows the accusation is false, is afraid of expulsion from the chess club and very reluctantly remains home and misses the dance. Mary has committed the tort of:

none of the above (libel; slander; false imprisonment)

A ____ is a non-trespassory invasion of another's interest in the private use and enjoyment of land

nuisance

A nontrespassory invasion of another's interest in the private use and enjoyment of land is

nuisance

Which of the following is NOT one of the torts included within invasion of privacy?

nuisance

Cliff's former roommate tells Cliff's girlfriend that he and Cliff smoked marijuana when they were roommates. Assuming the statement is true, Cliff can successfully sue for:

public disclosure of private facts

As with intrusion, the tort regarding public disclosure of private facts applies to private, not public information regarding an individual, but unlike intrusion it requires _____.

publicity

A pine tree growing in a forest is

real property

Defense of a property allows

reasonable force but not including deadly force

Carolyn takes Steve's car to the store with his permission. While there, she meets a group of her friends who were on their way to the beach. She leaves Steve's car at the store and goes for the entire day. If Steve successfully sues Carolyn for trespass, he will:

recover the value of the time he did not have use of the car

Which of the following is NOT a component of a tort?

restitution

Mary's car was parked just outside the east door of the Civic Center. When she tried to exit, three ominous-looking gang members were blocking that door. She called the police who arrested the three for loitering. If Mary brings the suit against them for false imprisonment:

she will lose if there was another exit she could have used

Claudia's baby daughter Carolyn is snatched from her arms at the grocery store. The kidnapper threatened to drop the baby if the store if the store did not hand over the contents of the vault. Claudia may:

shoot the kidnapper since she can protect the baby in the same way as herself

Which of the following is not a type of defense to defamation?

subjective privilege

In order to support a finding that the defendant's negligence was the proximate cause of the plaintiff's injury, it is first necessary that the defendant's conduct was:

the actual cause of injury

Andrew noticed Michael and his pregnant wife Catherine walking down the street and intentionally drove his car into Michael as a joke. Michael wasn't injured, but his wife suffered severe mental distress and needed to be hospitalized for stress.

Andrew has committed the tort of intentional infliction of emotional distress against Catherine.

On December 2, the Houston Oilers were playing the Pittsburgh Steelers. On a particular play, the Pittsburgh defensive end who was rather frustrated because Manning, the quarterback, had completed passes for 450 yards, grabbed Manning by the faceguard, jerked Manning's helmet off and hit Manning over the head with it. Manning filed suit against the Pittsburgh defensive end. The Pittsburgh defensive end contends that he has a valid defense to this tort in that Manning consented to participate in the game. Which of the following most accurately represents the status of that defense?

the consent is not valid because of the intentional actions of the Pittsburgh end

The owner of the bottom of a lake located in Jacksonville, Florida, which has no stream flowing either into or out of it is

the individual(s) who own the lake surrounding the lake

Carl Criminal threw a bomb into the office of his insurance agent intending to kill the agent because the company had disallowed his claim. The agent wasn't in the building, but the bomb seriously injured his secretary, who was working in the office.

the intent to harm the agent is transferred to the secretary who can sue Carl for her injuries

How far down does a landowner own the land?

to the center of the earth

A parks his car in front of his house. B pushes A's car around the corner. A subsequently looks for his car but cannot find it for several hours. B is liable to A for:

trespass to personal property

The intentional dispossession or unauthorized use of the personal property of another is known as

trespass to personal property

Al, the bus driver on a cross country Greyhound, kisses Susie, a passenger, while she sleeps. Al could be sued for battery.

true

Big Bucks, Inc. fires one of its employees and then, when asked for a reference on him makes some untrue statements which prevent him from finding a job. Big Bucks is liable for defamation.

true

Conversion is a civil form of larceny or theft

true

The Crackle Breakfast Food Company puts Arthur Attorney's picture on the Crackle box without first getting Arthur's permission. Arthur can sue for appropriation.

true

The same act can be both a tort and a crime.

true

Timothy Teenager and his friend are playing catch in the backyard when Tim suddenly throws the ball over the fence into the neighbor's yard where it breaks the window. This is trespass to real property even if Tim himself does not go onto the property to get the ball.

true

Tort law is primarily common law.

true

Complete defense in a defamation suit would result from:

truth

Disparagement differs from defamation suit would result from:

truth

Mary's defense to Cindy's suit if Cindy is an ax murderess is:

truth

Two absolute defenses to the tort of defamation are:

truth and privilege