BLAW EXAM 2
Ahmed is an employee of Bristol Manufacturing Company. Bristol manufactures plastics, which creates large amounts of toxic waste that must then be disposed of. Ahmed is responsible for making sure this toxic waste is properly disposed of. To cut costs, Ahmed decides to divert the liquid waste into a local stream, instead of properly disposing of it. This is a direct violation of the Clean Water Act, a national law that protects the United States' waterways. Sanford is the director of the division in which Ahmed works and knows that Ahmed is doing this. When the authorities discover Ahmed's unlawful actions, can Bristol be held criminally liable?
Bristol can be held criminally responsible if Sanford knew of Ahmed's criminal actions.
Dakota's series of romantic novels is very popular in the United States, so much so that her publisher, Antwone, wants to begin publishing the novels in other countries as well. Antwone approaches a publishing house in Australia, and the publishing house is open to discussing a deal. Dakota is concerned that her copyright only protects her in the United States, so Dakota asks Antwone to research that for her. When Antwone researches that issue for Dakota, he will discover that:
Dakota's novels will be protected if both the United States and Australia are signatories to the Berne Convention.
Gordon Enterprises is a United States company that operates in Brazil. The Brazilian government confiscates Gordon Enterprises' assets. If Gordon Enterprises files a lawsuit in a United States federal court to recover its assets from the Brazilian government:
Gordon Enterprises is unlikely to be successful unless the confiscation was in violation of a treaty that prohibits confiscation.
Marla suffers a heart attack after taking a prescription drug that has been linked in studies to heart problems. Marla would like to sue for her injuries. Marla does her homework and discovers there are five manufacturers of the drug. Unfortunately, because Marla took the drug five years ago, there is no way to tell which manufacturer created the actual drug that Marla took. To proceed with her lawsuit:
Marla can sue all five manufacturers, and any recovery she receives will be apportioned among the manufacturers according to their share of the market.
For some time, the police have suspected Abbie of selling drugs out of her apartment, but the police have not been able to gather any concrete evidence with which to prosecute Abbie. One night, the police decide to try a knock-and-talk procedure, where the police just knock on Abbie's door and see if Abbie will allow them inside. Abbie refuses to give consent for the officers to enter after they knock, but the police officers push past Abbie anyway. Once the officers are in the apartment, the officers see drugs in plain sight, so the police seize the drugs and arrest Abbie for possession with intent to sell. At Abbie's trial, can the drugs be entered into evidence?
No, the drugs cannot be admitted into evidence at trial because they were illegally obtained.
Donnell Enterprises is a U.S. Company operating in France. France decides to build a national highway that will run right through the real estate where Donnell Enterprises is located. Can France legally take the property from Donnell Enterprises?
Yes, France can legally take the property from Donnell Enterprises if France pays Donnell Enterprises just compensation.
Chloe is taking a botany class at the local university, so she purchases the textbook from the bookstore. Several of Chloe's friends are also taking the botany class. Chloe decides to make some money on her purchase of the textbook. Chloe scans the book into her computer and then sells the digital copies to her friends for 25 percent of the price they would have paid for the textbook. After selling her digital "product" to six friends, Chloe not only has more than recovered the cost of her textbook, she can still sell the book back to the bookstore at the end of the semester. Genius! By scanning and selling the textbook, Chloe has:
committed copyright infringement because her actions are not permissible under the first sale doctrine.
Bart works as an accountant for Good Times Restaurant. He is responsible for not only keeping the books current but also for making daily bank deposits for Good Times. Bart has been struggling financially, so he decides to put some of the daily bank deposits for Good Times into his personal account, instead of the bank account of Good Times. Every day, for one month, he takes ten percent of the cash receipts from Good Times and deposits them into his personal checking account. When the manager of Good Times discovers what Bart is doing, she contacts the police, and Bart is arrested. Bart can be found guilty of:
embezzlement.
Classics by Cathy is a United States company that sells upscale clothing worldwide. Classics sells clothes to Britain's Best Clothing in England. After a dispute arises between the two companies, Britain's Best sues Classics in England. Classics does not respond to the lawsuit, and a default judgment is entered against Classics. When Britain's Best brings the default judgment to the United States for collection, the United States court will:
honor the default judgment under the principle of comity because this judgment is consistent with the law of the United States.
Kevin is preparing his wife's favorite stir-fry dish for dinner. As Kevin is chopping the vegetables for the stir-fry, his hand slips and he cuts his hand on the sharp knife. Kevin's wife rushes him to the emergency room. Kevin receives twenty stitches because the cut is so deep. Kevin wants to sue the knife manufacturer for damages. Kevin claims that the knife was defective because it was unreasonably dangerous. If Kevin files a strict liability lawsuit against the knife manufacturer, he will:
lose, because a sharp knife is not unreasonably dangerous.
Liam is Neely's supervisor. During Neely's yearly written evaluation, Liam states that Neely has not performed her job well at all, constantly comes in late to work, and stirs up trouble with the other employees. Neely is understandably upset and wants to sue Liam for defamation. If Neely files a lawsuit against Liam for libel, Neely will probably:
not be successful if Liam's comments on Neely's written evaluation were made in good faith.
Rihana and her friends attend the opening day of Wild Water Country, a local water park attraction. Before riding the new Tornado Tunnel water slide, the steepest and scariest water slide in the park, Wild Water Country requires its customers to sign a waiver of liability which states that they know the risks involved in riding the Tornado Tunnel, and that Wild Water Country is not responsible for injuries that occur during the ride. Rihana signs the waiver and climbs to the top of the slide. As she begins her descent, however, the metal slide buckles under the weight of the riders. Rihana and several other riders are thrown from the slide and fall one hundred feet to their deaths. Rihana's parents sue Wild Water Country. Wild Water Country defends the lawsuit by stating they are not liable for any injuries because Rihana had signed a waiver of liability, and, therefore, she had assumed the risks associated with riding the water slide. Wild Water Country's defense will probably:
not be successful, because Rihana did not assume the risk of the water ride collapsing.
Angelina and Sophia attended a professional development retreat at Ferncliff Camp. They met at a downtown location and traveled to the camp by bus. After three days of team-building exercises, Angelina and Sophia returned on the bus to their respective cars. When Angelina arrived at home, she discovered the camp employee who unloaded the bus had given her Sophia's luggage by mistake. She called the camp to explain what happened and hopefully get her luggage back. Angelina can be charged with the crime of:
nothing, because she did not have the mental state required to commit a crime.
Falcon Air manufactures stealth fighter jets for the United States government. The Ukrainian government wants to purchase stealth fighter jets from Falcon. Falcon agrees to sell ten stealth fighter jets to the Ukrainian government. Once the purchase is complete, the Ukrainian government fails to make the complete payment. Falcon can sue the Ukrainian government:
only if the Ukrainian government voluntarily waived its sovereign immunity.
Andrea and Jerome are involved in a terrible car accident. Andrea ran a red light and plowed into Jerome's car, causing Jerome's car to be totaled. Luckily, Jerome was not hurt. Jerome files a tort lawsuit against Andrea. If he is successful in his lawsuit, Jerome will receive compensatory damages, the purpose of which is to:
put Jerome in the position he would have been in had the tort not occurred.
Monica has created her own cleaning solution. Monica's friends encourage her to sell the cleaning solution; they think it is so fantastic they believe Monica will make a lot of money on it. They encourage Monica to apply for a patent on the cleaning solution formula so that no one can copy it, and so Monica will be the only one who can sell it. Monica likes the idea of making a lot of money but knows she will have to reveal her formula to obtain a patent, otherwise she would have to keep it a trade secret. If Monica decides to apply for and receives a patent on the cleaning solution:
she has revealed the formula, but has the sole right to produce it and sell it for twenty years.
Fernando is riding his Kawasaki motorcycle and the front wheel falls off. Fernando is severely injured, of course. Fernando hires a mechanic to look at the motorcycle. The mechanic discovers that the bolt that holds the front tire in place had broken in half because it was not thick enough, and this is what caused the tire to fall off. The mechanic explained that using a thicker bolt would only have cost a few dollars more! Fernando sues Kawasaki for his injuries, claiming that Kawasaki had used a defective design in manufacturing its motorcycle. To be successful in his defective design product liability lawsuit, Fernando must prove:
that a reasonable alternative design was available, and that as a result of the failure of Kawasaki to adopt the alternative design, the product was not reasonably safe.
Anne Marie has surgery to have her gall bladder removed at Mt. Sinai Hospital. The surgery goes well, but several days later, Anne Marie experiences severe abdominal pain. X-rays reveal a small surgical instrument in Anne Marie's abdominal cavity. Anne Marie has to endure another surgery to remove the instrument. Anne Marie sues the surgeon for negligence. To win her negligence lawsuit against the surgeon, Anne Marie must prove:
that a reasonable surgeon would not have left a surgical instrument in her abdominal cavity.
Arvitz purchases a copy of Wordsample 7.0 software, the newest version of the word processing program he normally uses. Arvitz wants to share a copy of the software with his friends Kim and Carrie, but the program was designed to only be copied once. Arvitz is a decent programmer, so after spending a little time with the program, Arvitz learns how to bypass the code that only allows the program to be copied once. Arvitz then makes copies of the program and gives these copies to Kim and Carrie. By copying the word processing program and giving the program to his friends, Arvitz has violated:
the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.
Myra purchases an electric can opener from her neighbor's yard sale. That evening, as Myra is using the can opener for the first time, it explodes, sending shards of plastic and metal into Myra's face and eyes. Myra wants to file a product liability lawsuit because the can opener was defective and caused her injury. If Myra files the lawsuit, she can effectively sue:
the retailer who sold the can opener to Myra's neighbor and the manufacturer of the can opener.
Benita has a food truck where she sells spicy fried gorditas. Benita has been making the gorditas for years, using her family's recipe that has been passed down from generation to generation. Benita wants to protect her family recipe from being revealed to anyone else, so Benita considers the options available to her for the protection of her intellectual property. Because Benita's main concern is protecting the recipe from being revealed to anyone else, Benita's best approach is to treat the family fried gordita recipe a
trade secret.
Alfonso plays basketball for Hope County High School. His team makes it to the state tournament, where they play their archrival, Duvall County High. After an intense game where tempers run high, the Hope County team wins. While walking home from the basketball game, Alfonso is confronted by George, a member of the Duvall County team. George pushes Alfonso, causing him to fall to the ground. Enraged, Alfonso pulls a gun from his gym bag and shoots George in the chest, killing him instantly. Alfonso is arrested and charged with murder. Alfonso claims he shot George in self-defense. At trial, Alfonso's claim of self-defense is likely to be:
unsuccessful, because Alfonso used excessive force.
Laura purchases a lawnmower from Tractor Supply. The lawnmower has a flap in the back so the blade is not exposed to the person pushing the lawnmower. Laura does not like the flap dangling down, so she removes the flap. While Laura is mowing her yard, the mower slings a sharp rock into the air. The rock strikes Laura in the eye. Laura sues Tractor Supply, alleging that the lawnmower is defective and caused injury to her. In her lawsuit against Tractor Supply and the manufacturer, Laura will likely be:
unsuccessful, because the lawnmower was not in the same condition that it was in when she bought it.
Susan imports pottery from Spain. Under federal law, the pottery that Susan imports from Spain is taxed three times as much as pottery that Susan obtains from suppliers in the United States. The federal law that taxes Susan's imports more than products made in the United States:
violates the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), and the World Trade Organization (WTO) will require the United States to change its law.
Freddy carries his books and school supplies in a large backpack. The hallways at Freddy's school are always very crowded. One day, Freddy turns around quickly to talk to a friend, and a sharp pencil that is sticking out of his backpack gouges Lorraine in the eye. Lorraine ends up losing the use of her eye. If Lorraine sues Freddy in a negligence action, the standard the court will use to determine whether Freddy is liable is:
what a reasonable person would have done under the circumstances.
