Law

NAME____________________________________________________________________ MONTCLAIR STATE UNIVERSITY LEGAL RESEARCH PROFESSOR MERHI MIDTERM EXAMINATION FALL 2018

I. Intentional Torts.

Romeo and Juliet.

1. Romeo likes to drive his souped-up Trans Am around the high school parking lot, racing the motor, accelerating rapidly, and stopping on a dime. He arrives at school one winter morning, speeds across the parking lot, and screeches to a halt in a parking space, hoping to impress the ladies with his hot shot driving. Unfortunately, the parking lot is icy; the rear end of the car skids out of control, jumps the curb sideways, and knocks Thibault to the ground. Has Romeo battered him?

2. When Romeo gets out of the car to apologize, Thibault yells, “What’s the idea?” and gives him a push. Romeo slips on a patch of ice, hits his head on one of the mag wheels of his Trans Am, and suffers a serious concussion. Is Thibault liable for Romeo’s injuries?

3. Romeo and Juliet are an item, “going steady” as they said when I was in high school. Romeo comes up to Juliet in the school parking lot on Monday morning and gives her a hug, as he is accustomed to doing each morning. Unfortunately, Juliet is standing on a patch of ice and Romeo’s embrace causes her to fall and fracture her arm. Is Romeo liable for battery?

4. In an effort to make amends, Romeo starts to help Juliet up. Thoroughly annoyed and offended, Juliet growls, “Don’t touch me.” Romeo, determined to be gallant, helps her up anyway, despite her efforts to pull away. Is this a battery?

5. Romeo considers himself irresistible. He is accustomed to flirting with the girls at will. He approaches Ophelia, a new student, on her first day in the school and, by way of introduction, gives her a hug. She sues him for battery. Is he liable?

6. Romeo is a sprinter on the track team. At the first meet of the season, he is nosed out by Mercutio, the star of the visiting team. In a burst of good sportsmanship, he goes over to Mercutio, slaps him heartily on the back, and says “great run, Mercutio!” Mercutio, who, it turns out, is very sensitive about being touched by strangers, reacts with rage at the contact. Is Romeo liable for battery?

The Olympics.

7. Hennie, an Olympic figure skater, is about to perform her final routine in the women’s individual skating event. She brings her music tape, meticulously edited and carefully guarded over four years of preparation, into the arena and puts it on the table by the tape player. Wilson, a sports cartoonist with an evil sense of humor, puts the tape on the floor and pretends to jump up and down on it while Hennie looks on from across the ice in disbelief. Hennie is terrified that it will be broken. Can she sue for battery?

8. The malicious Wilson crawls into the grid above the rink and loosens a heavy Olympic banner. He drops the banner as Hennie skates under him, but it sails a bit and lands ten feet behind her. She then turns and sees the banner lying on the ice and is shocked to think how close she came to being injured. Does she have an assault claim against Wilson?

9. Wilson lets another banner go, aiming for the unsuspecting Hennie, who is concentrating on her routine. As the banner falls, she looks up, sees it coming, and skates to safety. Is this an assault?

10. Assume that Hennie sees the banner coming, but she can’t get out of the way in time. Hennie is hit, though not injured. Can she sue for assault?

11. Benjamin, Hennie’s partner in the doubles competition, is sitting in the stands and sees the banner fall. He is terrified that she will be hit. He sues Wilson for assault. What result?

II. True/False.

1. ______Secondary authority includes statements about the law and are used to explain, interpret, or update primary authorities.

2. ______Legal authority can either be primary or secondary.

3. ______The State of New Jersey belongs in the Third Circuit, along with Delaware, Pennsylvania, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

4. ______A party who wishes to appeal a decision from Federal District Court must first appeal to the Federal Appeals Court before making an application to the U.S. Supreme Court for review.

5. ______An individual from Nevada wishes to bring an action against an individual from California for personal injury as a result of a car accident which involved both parties. The amount in controversy is in excess of $90,000.00. The Nevada resident wishes to sue in the Federal District Court of Nevada for the 9th Circuit, citing diversity jurisdiction as the basis for her application. The federal court has subject-matter jurisdiction over this type of matter based on diversity jurisdiction.

6. ______A party seeking an injunction against a neighbor files his claim with the criminal division of the court.

7. ______Examples of primary authority include law review articles, scholarly journals, ALR annotations, restatements of the law, and legal dictionaries.

8. ______Secondary authority can be mandatory in some cases.

9. ______A police report does not constitute hearsay when the officer who prepared the report is unavailable in court.

10. ______In criminal trials, all jurors must come to a unanimous decision.

11. ______Legal encyclopedias are considered a secondary source of law.

12. ______An example of a legal encyclopedia is the Corpus Juris Secondum, or C.J.S.

13. ______The standard for a state to meet in a criminal trial in order to convict a defendant is beyond ALL doubt.

14. ______Hearsay is information gathered by one person from another person concerning some event, condition, or thing of which the first person had no direct experience and is inadmissible in court.

15. ______Under the doctrine of transferred intent, where the actor intends to batter one person and actually causes a harmful or offensive contact with another, the actor will be liable to the actual victim under the doctrine of transferred intent.

16. ______Assumption of Risk is a doctrine which may be used as a defense in civil tort actions.

17. ______False imprisonment can occur where a department store detains a suspected shoplifter whom they reasonably believe has shoplifted.

18. ______A treatise is an extensive exposition by non-experts on case law and legislations pertaining to a particular doctrinal subject.

19. ______The role of the executive branch of the government is to create law.

20. ______ The “ALR,” or American Law Reports, are referred to as the selective reporter of appellate court opinions and are viewed as introductory secondary sources.

21. _____ In order to recover damages under intentional infliction of emotional distress, one must suffer only mild emotional distress.

22. _____ A defense to trespass to land is that the actor was engaging in a public necessity to protect the community.

23. _____ A tortfeasor is liable for all damages suffered by the plaintiff, even if those damages are unexpected or great in scope.

24. _____ Under the doctrine of “contributory negligence,” a plaintiff’s recovery for damages are limited by that plaintiff’s degree of fault.

25. _____Self-defense entitles a victim to defend himself/herself if a battery is impending, and even for retaliation purposes.

III. Multiple Choice.

1. Which of the following is a NOT a division in the New Jersey Superior Court?

a. Chancery Division

b. Tax Division

c. Criminal Division

d. Family Division

2. Which of the following is NOT an element of the tort of negligence?

a. Breach of duty

b. Damages

c. Causation

d. Intent

3. How many individuals deliberate in a criminal trial?

a. 14

b. 13

c. 12

d. 11

4. How many individuals deliberate in a civil trial?

a. 6

b. 7

c. 8

d. 5

5. Which of the following is binding authority in a New Jersey court?

a. A Seton Hall Law Review Article.

b. A decision by the highest court of Pennsylvania.

c. A decision by the lowest court of New York.

d. A decision by the intermediate court of New Jersey.

6. Which of the following is the proper citation for the case: Simpson v. Lopez, an Appellate Division decision from 1980, located in volume 55 of the N.J. Super. reporter beginning on page 11?

a. Simpson v. Lopez, 55 N.J. Super. 11 (Appellate Division 1980)

b. Simpson v. Lopez, 55 N.J. Super. 11 (App. Div. 1980)

c. Simpson v. Lopez, 55 N.J. Super. 11 (App. Div.) (1980)

d. Simpson v. Lopez, 55 N.J. Super. 11 (App. Div. 1980)

7. Which of the following is NOT an intentional tort?

a. False Imprisonment

b. Assault

c. Negligence

d. Battery

8. Which of the following is not a legally recognizable defense?

a. Assumption of Risk

b. Consent

c. Necessity

d. Ignorance of the law

IV. Short Essays.

ANSWER ALL QUESTIONS IN THE ORDER THEY APPEAR

1. What is meant by the latin term “stare decisis”?

2. Explain, in detail, the 4-step “effective method” for Legal Research.

3. Give at least one (1) example of a primary authority and at least once (1) example of a secondary authority.

4. What at the three (3) branches of government, what is the unique role of each of branch, and provide one (1) example of a person or entity that operates under each branch.

5. What is meant by “diversity jurisdiction”? What court are you entitled to file in if diversity jurisdiction is satisfied?

6. In the civil division of Superior Court in New Jersey, what are the differences between (1) Law Division, (2) Special Civil Division, and (3) Small Claims Division?

7. What are the four (4) divisions of the New Jersey Superior Court (Trial Court)? Further, list one type of case filed under each division.

8. What are the four (4) different ways to get into federal court?

9. What are the first three (3) Articles of the U.S. Constitution? What does each Article establish?

10. Explain at least 7 different common objections to questions made in Court.