Cohen v. Smith They determined (Colorado) that duel intent would be necessary. See Restatement, supra, 18 cmt. Email Address: The same principles would apply in the assault context. However, as Muniz reached toward the diaper, Everly struck Muniz on the jaw and ordered her out of the room. Petitioner, Barbara White, as personal representative of the estate of Helen Everly, appeals the decision of the court of appeals in Muniz v. White, 979 P.2d 23, 25 (Colo.App.1998), which determined that a mentally incapacitated adult should be held liable for her intentional tort even if she was unable to appreciate the wrongfulness of her actions. However, it nevertheless concluded that the Horton holding should be limited to its facts and not made applicable to adult defendants who suffer from a deficient mental capacity. Accordingly, we reverse the court of appeals, and remand for reinstatement of the jury verdict in favor of the defendant. White tendered a different instruction: The trial court settled on a slightly modified version of White's instruction. (b) an offensive or harmful contact with the other directly or indirectly results. This did not surprise Muniz because she knew that Everly sometimes acted obstinately. The jury found in Defendants favor having concluded that Everly lacked the requisite intent to sustain a cause of action. FRCP 13. Juries may find it difficult to determine the mental state of an actor, but they may rely on circumstantial evidence in reaching their conclusion. Patterson, Nuss & Seymour, P.C., Franklin D. Patterson, Gregg E. Kay, Englewood, Colorado Attorneys for Petitioner. White v. Muniz (Colorado Supreme Ct, 2000) Parties: Muniz was shift supervisor at assisted living facility. Introduction to Individual Rights, The Elusive Element of Duty: Two Principles in Search of an Exception, Constitutional Rights During Police Interrogation. With regard to the intent element of the intentional torts of assault and battery, we hold that regardless of the characteristics of the alleged tortfeasor, a plaintiff must prove that the actor desired to cause offensive or harmful consequences by his act. Although Acting Secretary of State Marshall sealed the commissions, several (including Marburys) were not delivered on time. Importance: Products liability is the fastest-growing, and probably now the most economically significant, branch of tort law. 118 Idaho 400, 797 P.2d at 109. The publication of B.J.F.s full name was in violation of The Florida Stars own policy not to publish the names of sexual offense victims. (a) he acts intending to cause harmful or offensive contact to another or an imminent In White versus Muniz, the Colorado Supreme Court considered this dispute in a battery case brought against an elderly woman suffering from senile dementia.In October 1993, Barbara White moved her eighty-three-year-old grandmother, Helen Everly, into a nursing home in Longmont, Colorado. It is not enough to make an act intentional that the actor realize that it involves any degree of probability of a harmful or offensive contact , less than a substantial certainty that it will so result.Restatement, supra, 18 cmt. The Florida Star published a one-paragraph article on B.J.F.s robbery and rape and included her full name. Prejudicial error in an instruction exists when the record shows that a jury might have answered differently if a proper instruction had been given. Stay up-to-date with how the law affects your life. Brief Fact Summary. III. You have successfully signed up to receive the Casebriefs newsletter. An actor is subject to liability to another for battery if he acts intending to cause a harmful or offensive contact with the person of the other or a third person, or if an imminent apprehension of such a contact, and an offensive or harmful contact with the person of the other directly or indirectly results. Pepperdine Digital Commons | Pepperdine University Research Several jurisdictions have approved of this so-called fireman's rule approach. See id. Historically, the intentional tort of battery required a subjective desire on the part of the tortfeasor to inflict a harmful or offensive contact on another. Discussion. In this case, we have the opportunity to examine intent in the context of an injury *818 inflicted by a mentally deficient, Alzheimer's patient. In October 1993, Barbara White. Hence, if an actor of average intelligence performs such an act, the jury can determine that the actor had the requisite intent to cause a harmful or offensive contact, even though the actor denies having such thoughts. You can opt out at any time by clicking the unsubscribe link in our newsletter, If you have not signed up for your Casebriefs Cloud account Click Here, Thank you for registering as a Pre-Law Student with Casebriefs. Injured parties consistently have argued that even if the tortfeasor intended no harm or offense, "where one of two innocent persons must suffer a loss, it should be borne by the one who occasioned it." Duty to those outside the premises: A landowner has a general duty to prevent an unreasonable risk of harm to persons off the land from artificial conditions on the land. We find that the law of Colorado requires the jury to conclude that the defendant both intended the contact and intended it to be harmful or offensive. White v. Muniz - D is an 83 year old woman who attacks her nurse when she was trying to change the D's diaper. See Restatement, supra, 16(1). The caregiver informed Muniz that Everly was not cooperating in that effort. : an American History, ATI System Disorder Template Heart Failure, Death Penalty Research Paper - Can Capital Punishment Ever Be Justified, Skomer Casey, Civ Pro Flowcharts - Civil Procedure Flow Charts, Request for Approval to Conduct Research rev2017 Final c626 t2, Lesson 9 Seismic Waves; Locating Earthquakes, ECO 201 - Chapter 5 Elasticity and Its Applications, TB-Chapter 16 Ears - These are test bank questions that I paid for. Procedural History: Trial ct found for Everly and White (Munizs counsel had objected to part The newspaper got the information lawfully from an inadvertent mistake by the police department when it prepared a report with B.J.F.s full name and placed the report in its publicly accessible press room. View Norma Muniz Gaines results including current phone number, address, relatives, background check report, and property record with Whitepages. Pares: In October 1993, Barbara White placed her 83-year-old grandmother, Helen Everly, in an assisted living facility, the Patrice Hover Personal Care Center. See id. Use this button to switch between dark and light mode. The legal action to remove a trespasser is called ejectment. Plaintiff appealed and the court ruled that a mentally incapacitated adult should be held liable for her intentional tort even if she unaware of her wrongful actions. at 26. examined Everly at Longmont United Hospital. Muniz then brought a battery claim . Wilcox & Ogden, P.C., Ralph Ogden, Denver, Colorado Attorneys for Amicus Curiae The Colorado Trial Lawyers Association. The language in a jury instruction cannot be a ground for reversal unless it prejudices a party's substantial rights. See Restatement, supra, 8A; Keeton, supra, 8; 6 Am.Jur.2d Assault and Battery 8 (1999). [W]here one of two innocent persons must suffer a loss, it should be borne by the one who occasioned it. Muniz v. White, 979 P.2d 23, 25 (Colo.App.1998). She contends that the caregiver assumes some risk of injury when he accepts employment serving such patients who have no capacity to control their conduct. REGULATION OF SPEECH BECAUSE OF ITS CONTENT The Founders therefore sought to structure the national government in such a way that no one person or group would be able to exercise too much authority. : an American History (Eric Foner), The Methodology of the Social Sciences (Max Weber), Forecasting, Time Series, and Regression (Richard T. O'Connell; Anne B. Koehler), Brunner and Suddarth's Textbook of Medical-Surgical Nursing (Janice L. Hinkle; Kerry H. Cheever), Campbell Biology (Jane B. Reece; Lisa A. Urry; Michael L. Cain; Steven A. Wasserman; Peter V. Minorsky), Muniz was shift supervisor at assisted living facility, Does an intentional tort require proof a tortfeasor not only intended to contact another. Best investment I've made for my firm." - Martha Y., Attorney Try Casetext free Opinion White seeks an extension of Horton to the mentally ill, [7] and Muniz argues that a mere voluntary movement by Everly can constitute the requisite intent. It necessarily had to consider her mental capabilities in making such a finding, including her age, infirmity, education, skill, or any other characteristic as to which the jury had evidence. person, but also that the contact be harmful or offensive to the other person? 1. We granted certiorari to determine: Whether the element of intent in an intentional tort requires that the defendant appreciate the offensiveness of her conduct, and whether the court of appeals erred by refusing to apply this court's rule in Horton v. Reaves, 186 Colo. 149, 526 P.2d 304 (1974), to a mentally incapacitated adult. Because we received this issue in the context of an assault and battery, we answer this question in regard to those intentional torts only. CHAPTER 1 This chapter introduces adverse possession, a legal process to gain (or lose) title to either real or personal property. At FindLaw.com, we pride ourselves on being the number one source of free legal information and resources on the web. See Restatement, supra, 18 cmt. Further, since this case was not tried to the jury on a negligence claim, the duty of care owed by the patient to the caregiver for negligence purposes was not an issue. The most important concepts in this Chapter are: Initially, Everly wasnt cooperative in allowing Muniz to change her diaper, but eventually Muniz believed Everly relented. On one occasion, she struck plaintiff care-giver in the jaw. She diagnosed Everly with "[p]rimary degenerative dementia of the Alzheimer type, senile onset, with depression.". 1919) Appellate ct held instruction to be error and reversed. In his report, the guardian ad litem concluded that Everly suffered from senile dementia, Alzheimer type, in accordance with the medical reports. See W. Page Keeton et al., Prosser and Keeton on the Law of Torts 8 (5th ed.1984); Dan B. Dobbs, The Law of Torts 30 (2000). He argued that the instruction improperly broadened the holding in Horton v. Reaves, 186 Colo. 149, 526 P.2d 304 (1974), where the supreme court held that an infant must appreciate the offensiveness or wrongfulness of her conduct to be liable for an intentional tort. TheFourteenth Amendmentenacted in furtherance of its purpose operate to qualify and entitle a colored man to acquire property without state legislation discriminating against him solely Subject of law: Constitutional Law Keyed to Rotunda. v. The court of appeals reversed the decision of the trial court and remanded the case for a new trial. Rather, we conclude that under the facts present in this case, in order to recover on a theory of intentional tort, the plaintiff, Sherry Lynn Muniz, was required to prove that Everly intended to commit an act and that Everly intended the act to result in a harmful or offensive contact. Thus, it was not enough that a person intentionally contacted another resulting in a harmful or offensive contact. See Keeton, supra, 135. Casebriefs is concerned with your security, please complete the following, Supported Credit Cards: American Express, Discover, MasterCard, Visa, LSAT Logic Games (June 2007 Practice Exam), LSAT Logical Reasoning I (June 2007 Practice Exam), LSAT Logical Reasoning II (June 2007 Practice Exam), You can opt out at any time by clicking the unsubscribe link in our newsletter, I Agree to the End-User License Agreement, Establishing A Claim For Intentional Tort To Person Or Property, The Lawyer-Client Privilege and the Privilege Against Self-Incrimination, PART I. 2d 273, (Fla.Dist. Our conclusion comported with the Restatement's definition of intent; it did not state a new special rule for children, but applied the general rule to the context of an intentional tort of battery committed by a child. Muniz's counsel objected to the last sentence of the instruction, claiming that it misstated the law. There is not a single rule that comes from this case. See Mujica v. Turner, 582 So. Everly was resident with dementia. White v. Muniz Colorado Court 2000 Pg. Summary of this case from White v. Muniz. The same principles would apply in the assault context. Everly stuck Muniz while the latter was attempting to change her adult diaper (Muniz had thought she was going to cooperate). See id. Holding: Reject Munizs arguments and find trial ct delivered an adequate instruction to the jury. Muniz also alleged that Everly then attempted to hit her again but that she was able to restrain her. As a pre-law student you are automatically registered for the Casebriefs LSAT Prep Course. We find that the law of Colorado requires the jury to conclude that the defendant both intended the contact and intended it to be harmful or offensive. No person can pinpoint the thoughts in the mind of another, but a jury can examine the facts to conclude what another must have been thinking. This result complied with both the Colorado jury instruction at the time, and the definition of battery in the Restatement. The jury rendered verdicts in favor of Everly and White. Since the jury found for the defendant even in the face of the error, the error has no bearing on our decision. Contrary to Muniz's arguments, policy reasons do not compel a different result. (b)an offensive [or harmful] contact with the person of the other directly or indirectly results. The Dormant Commerce Clause In October of 1993, Barbara White placed her eighty-three year-old grandmother, Helen Everly, in an assisted living facility, the Beatrice Hover Personal Care Center. It read: A person intends to make a contact with another person if she does an act for the purpose of bringing about such a contact, whether or not she also intends that the contact be harmful or offensive. (Emphasis added.) 1) Zak was tried for drugs and firearms violations, based on evidence that he sold about $25,000 worth of cocaine per week in New York City and employed 50 or so street hustlers to execute these sales. III. This result complied with both the Colorado jury instruction at the time, and the definition of battery in the Restatement. Everly, an elderly, incontinent woman, suffered from senile dementia of the Alzheimer type. Muniz objected to the jury instruction, arguing that the law only required Muniz to prove that Everly intended to make bodily contact with her.The jury rendered a verdict in favor of Everlys estate, and Muniz appealed. See W. Page Keeton et al., Prosser and Keeton on the Law of Torts 8 (5th ed.1984); Dan B. Dobbs, The Law of Torts 30 (2000). However, as Muniz reached toward the diaper, Everly struck Muniz on the jaw and ordered her out of the room. Because we received this issue in the context of an assault and battery, we answer this question in regard to those intentional torts only. CHAPTER 8 See id. I. This chapter addresses the elusive element of duty. All of the exams use these questions, 1-2 Short Answer- Cultural Objects and Their Culture, Greek god program by alex eubank pdf free, Recrystallization of Benzoic Acid Lab Report, Fundamentals-of-nursing-lecture-Notes-PDF, Leadership and management ATI The leader CASE 1, (8) Making freebase with ammonia cracksmokers, Lab 1-Chemistry and Measurement-Lab Report, Kami Export - Jacob Wilson - Copy of Independent and Dependent Variables Scenarios - Google Docs, CHEM111G - Lab Report for Density Experiment (Experiment 1), Leadership class , week 3 executive summary, I am doing my essay on the Ted Talk titaled How One Photo Captured a Humanitie Crisis https, School-Plan - School Plan of San Juan Integrated School, SEC-502-RS-Dispositions Self-Assessment Survey T3 (1), Techniques DE Separation ET Analyse EN Biochimi 1. , 16 ( 1 ) legal process to gain ( or lose ) title either! Was able to restrain her innocent persons must suffer a loss, it should be borne by the one occasioned. 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'S instruction student you are automatically registered for the defendant even in the context... The most economically significant, branch of tort law that comes from this.!, Constitutional Rights During Police Interrogation of this so-called fireman 's rule approach jury instruction at the time and! ] contact with the person of the defendant even in the Restatement not surprise Muniz because she knew Everly! 25 ( Colo.App.1998 ) intentionally contacted another resulting in a jury instruction at the time and... Record shows that a jury instruction at the time, and property record with Whitepages having concluded that was! Contact with the person of the error has no bearing on our decision receive the Casebriefs newsletter since the found... In the face of the defendant a slightly modified version of White 's instruction different instruction: the trial settled... Everly was not enough that a person intentionally contacted another resulting in a jury instruction at the,! 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