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Trespass to Land & Chattels

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1. Trespass to Land (Scope of License)

  • Black Letter Law: A trespass action will lie if a defendant enters land with permission (a license) but overstays the duration of the permission or fails to remove an object from the land after the license has expired.
    • License Definition: Permission/authority to enter upon the land of another.
  • Key Case: Rogers
    • Facts: Defendant had a license to place a snow fence on the decedent’s land during winter but failed to remove the post after the season/license expired. The husband died when his mower struck the post.
    • Holding: The failure to remove the object after the license expired reverted the defendant to the status of a trespasser.

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2. Trespass to Chattel vs. Conversion

  • Black Letter Law:
    • Trespass to Chattel: Requires either (1) some harm/damage to the chattel OR (2) dispossession of the chattel for a long enough period that the dispossession itself constitutes damage.
    • Distinction from Conversion: The difference is the degree of interference.
      • Trespass to Chattel: Shorter duration or less interference (e.g., taking a bike for an hour).
      • Conversion: substantial interference or total destruction (e.g., taking a bike for a month).
  • Key Cases:
    • Liden (1949): Statutory strict liability for dog bites existed unless the plaintiff was trespassing. The court found a child playing with a dog did not commit trespass to chattel because there was no harm to the dog and no dispossession.
    • CompuServe v. Cyber Promotions (1997): Defendant sent unsolicited spam email using CompuServe’s routers. The court held that electronic signals are sufficiently physically tangible to support a trespass cause of action, and damages were satisfied by “intermeddling” that interfered with the possessor’s interest.
    • Pearson v. Dodd: Former employees removed files, copied them, and returned the originals. Court held this was not conversion because the documents were returned before the owner could use them, and the information was not proprietary property.

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Affirmative Defenses to Intentional Torts

General Procedural Rule:
  • Plaintiff must prove the prima facie elements of the tort (Case in Chief). Attacking the sufficiency of the plaintiff’s case is not an affirmative defense.
  • If the plaintiff meets their burden, the burden shifts to the defendant to raise affirmative defenses.
  • Legal Effect: A valid affirmative defense is a complete bar to recovery.

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1. Shopkeeper’s Privilege

  • Black Letter Law: A shopkeeper is privileged to detain a person if three elements are met:
    1. Reasonable Belief: There must be a reasonable belief as to the theft.
    2. Reasonable Manner: The detention must be conducted in a reasonable manner, and no deadly force can be used.
    3. Reasonable Time: The detention must be only for a reasonable period of time to complete the investigation.
  • Black Letter Law: Consent is a defense to intentional torts (e.g., Battery).
    • Express Consent: Exists where plaintiff has expressly submitted (written or oral) to defendant’s conduct.
      • Vitiation: Fraud and Duress vitiate (nullify) consent.
    • Implied Consent:
      • Apparent Consent: Exists when a reasonable person would infer consent from the plaintiff’s conduct.
      • Consent Implied by Law: Exists where action is necessary to save a person’s life or an important interest in property (e.g., emergency surgery on an unconscious patient).
  • Key Cases:
    • Hackbart (Cincinnati Bengals): Players imply consent to conduct within the rules of the game (Apparent Consent) but do not consent to intentional blows/conduct outside the rules.
    • O’Brien (1891): Plaintiff stood in line and held out her arm for a vaccination. Court held this was apparent consent manifested by her conduct.
    • De May v. Roberts (1881): A man falsely claiming to be a doctor’s assistant held a woman’s hand during childbirth. Any implied consent was invalid because it was obtained through fraud regarding his identity/qualifications.

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3. Self-Defense & Defense of Others

  • Self-Defense Rule: When a person has a reasonable belief that they are about to be attacked, they may use reasonable force for protection.
    • Proportionality: Force must be reasonable. Deadly force can only be used to counter deadly force.
  • Defense of Others Rule: One may use force to defend another person only when the other person could have used force.
    • Standard: The defender steps into the shoes of the victim.

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4. Defense of Property

  • Black Letter Law: One may use reasonable force to prevent the commission of a tort against their property.
  • Limitations:
    • Force can only be used while the tort is in progress (hot pursuit). Once the tort is completed (e.g., thief has escaped), force is no longer privileged.
    • Deadly force can never be used solely to defend property.

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5. Public Necessity

  • Black Letter Law: Where the act is for the public good, the defense is absolute.
  • Damages: Those whose property is destroyed by an act of public necessity will not have the right to recover.
  • Examples: Fire department smashing a car window to access a hydrant during a fire. Blowing up a house to create a firebreak during a city-wide conflagration.

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6. Private Necessity

  • Black Letter Law: A defendant acting out of private necessity is relieved of the technical tort of trespass but must compensate the plaintiff for any actual damage done.
  • Hypothetical: A person seeks shelter under a stranger’s porch during a severe lightning storm.
    • Trespass: The landowner cannot eject the person while the danger (storm) persists.
    • Damages: If the person breaks a vase or damages the floor while sheltering, they are liable for those damages.

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7. Justification

  • Black Letter Law: A “catch-all” defense used when other defenses do not fit, but it would be unjust to hold the defendant liable.
  • Elements: Actions taken were reasonable and done to protect others from injury or to protect property.

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8. Statute of Limitations

  • Definition: A specific time period within which a legal action must be filed.
  • Nature: It is an affirmative defense. A plaintiff can file a lawsuit after the period expires; the defendant must actively raise the statute of limitations defense.
  • Legal Effect: If valid, it is a complete bar to recovery.

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Exam Writing Technique

  • Structure:
    1. Identify Parties.
    2. Identify Cause of Action (e.g., Battery).
    3. State Rule.
    4. Analysis (Apply facts to Prima Facie elements).
    5. Conclusion.
    6. Affirmative Defenses: Always address this section. If no defenses apply, explicitly state: “The facts do not give rise to any affirmative defenses”.