June 2008 Question 1 [Torts]
Twelve-year-old Charlie was riding on his small, motorized 3-wheeled all terrain vehicle (“ATV”) in his family’s large front yard. Suddenly, finding the steering wheel stuck in place, Charlie was unable to steer the ATV, and he panicked. Instead of applying the brakes or turning off the ATV, he jumped off of it and ran away. The ATV continued on its own, rolled out of the yard and into the residential street, directly in front of a car driven by Paul. Paul was sending a text message on his cell phone while driving. He failed to see the ATV roll into the street and he crashed into it. Although the ATV was not large, it was heavy enough that the accident caused serious personal injuries to Paul, and significant damage to his car.
An examination of the wreckage of the ATV showed that the steering wheel stuck because of a malfunction of the steering system. The ATV and the steering system are manufactured by KiddieRides-R-Us.
Under what theory or theories might Paul recover, and what is his likelihood of success, against:
a. Charlie?
b. KiddieRides-R-Us? Discuss.
June 2008 Question 2 [Criminal Law]
Angela, Brian and Carter were at Angela’s house, drinking beer. They wanted to order a pizza and have it delivered, but they did not have enough money to pay for it. Carter suggested they order the pizza and grab it from the pizza delivery person without paying. Brian told Angela to call the pizza parlor. She did so and ordered a pizza, knowing she could not pay for it. Brian and Carter waited outside the house.
When the delivery person arrived with the pizza, Carter pulled a gun out of his jacket pocket. Brian had no idea Carter was carrying a gun. Carter fired the weapon into the delivery person’s vehicle but did not hit anyone. Carter told Brian to grab the pizza and run. Brian was shocked by Carter’s actions and did not move. Carter turned the gun on Brian and told him, again, to grab the pizza and run. Brian then grabbed the pizza, and Carter and Brian fled the scene. Brian and Carter returned to Angela’s house through the back door and all of them ate the pizza. Later, the police arrested Angela, Brian and Carter.
With what crimes, if any, can Angela, Brian and Carter reasonably be charged and what defense(s), if any, can each of them reasonably assert? Discuss.
June 2008 Question 3 [Contracts]
Sally decided to hold a garage sale. She posted signs in the neighborhood which read: “Giant Garage Sale — Electronic keyboard: $200 (one only), designer clothes, CD’s, Books and More! Sunday, Noon to 4:00 p.m.”
On Sunday, Andy saw one of Sally’s signs, and arrived at her home promptly at noon. He examined the keyboard and then announced, “I’ll take the keyboard for $200, but first I need to get a truck to move it home. I’ll be back before 4:00 with the money and a truck.” Before Sally could respond, he left.
Sally’s friend, Betty, stopped by at 1:00, and saw a designer gown. Betty told Sally, “I’d love to buy that gown, but I can’t afford it!” Sally replied, “I had hoped to get $400 for the gown, Betty, but you’ve helped me out before, and I’ve always wanted to pay you back. So, if I can’t sell it for $400 by 3:30, the gown is yours for free.” Betty thanked Sally and left.
At 1:30, Chuck browsed through the garage sale and found a set of art books. “I want to buy these,” he told Sally, “but I don’t have any cash with me.” “That’s O.K.,” Sally replied. “I’ll sell you those books for $100. The offer’s open until 4:00.” “Thanks,” Chuck answered, “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
At 3:30, Betty called Sally and asked if anyone had purchased the gown yet. “Not yet,” Sally replied. “No one’s here so I’m going to close up early. It looks like it’s yours.” “Thanks,” Betty responded. “I am going to run to the store and buy shoes and a purse that match the gown.”
At 3:45, Debbie arrived at the sale, pointed at the gown Sally had promised to Betty, and said, “I’ll buy that gown for $300, and I’ll buy that set of art books too.” Sally sold the gown and books to Debbie.
Chuck returned before 4:00, saw Debbie carrying the books and said to Sally, “You can’t sell those books to her! We had a deal!” Although he attempted to give Sally $100, she refused the money.
Betty arrived shortly thereafter, and showed Sally the shoes and purse that she had purchased to go with the gown. Sally told her the evening gown had been sold.
1. Does Andy have an enforceable contract with Sally? Discuss.
2. Does Betty have an enforceable contract with Sally? Discuss.
3. Does Chuck have an enforceable contract with Sally? Discuss.
June 2008 Question 4 [Torts]
Dede attends college with Alex, Betty, and Carl. One day, an argument that she was having with Alex, her ex-boyfriend, became heated. The argument occurred in a very crowded college lecture hall between classes. During the argument, Dede picked up a heavy textbook and threw it at Alex. Alex shielded his head with his hands and ducked. The textbook missed Alex, but it hit Betty, who was standing behind Alex. The impact fractured Betty’s nose.
Enraged at missing Alex, Dede then picked up another textbook and threw it as hard as she could into a crowd of students gathered nearby. This second textbook struck Carl, who was standing in the crowd. As a result, Carl suffered a bruised rib.
What intentional tort claims, if any, do Alex, Betty, and Carl have against Dede? Discuss.
October 2008 Question 1 [Contracts]
Abby and Paula entered into a valid contract under which Abby agreed to buy and Paula agreed to sell for $1.5 million a printing press for Abby‟s business. Abby made a $500,000 payment to Paula at the time of the sale and agreed to make the final payment of $1 million in six months.
Just prior to the date the final payment was due, Abby sold her business, including the press, to Bert. As part of the sale, Bert agreed with Abby to pay Paula the $1 million due her. Abby represented in the purchase agreement between Abby and Bert that all of the business equipment was in working order, although she knew that the press never functioned as it was intended to. In fact, Abby had previously requested of Paula that she repair or replace the press, but Paula had refused to do so.
After Bert bought the business he discovered the problem with the press. He told Paula that he would not pay her the $1 million due until she repaired or replaced the press. Paula immediately filed a breach of contract lawsuit against Bert for the outstanding $1 million balance. Bert denies any obligation to pay Paula the $1 million on the basis that he had never entered into any contract with Paula.
In addition, Bert asserts two other defenses: First, that the printing press is defective and unsuitable for its intended purpose. Second, that Abby materially misrepresented the condition of the press.
1. Under what theory or theories may Paula be successful in her breach of contract action against Bert? Discuss.
2. What is the likelihood that the additional defenses asserted by Bert will prevail? Discuss.
October 2008 Question 2 [Torts]
Alice operates a daycare center in her home from Monday through Friday for children from ages 6 months to three years old. One Friday, she discovered some mice in her house and called Bob, an exterminator. She told Bob that she runs the daycare center in her home for very young children and needs to get rid of the mice by the following Monday, when the children will return.
On Saturday, Bob placed small plastic packages of poison pellets in the corners of every room in the house. He explained that the mice would gnaw through the plastic packaging to eat the pellets, and then die shortly thereafter. On each package was printed the following warning:
“DANGER: THIS PACKAGE CONTAINS POISION, WHICH MAY BE HARMFUL TO HUMAN HEALTH IF SWALLOWED!”
Before leaving Alice‟s house, Bob told her that the mice should ingest the pellets by Monday morning and that she could if she wanted to remove what is left of the packages before the children arrived.
On Sunday, Carol came for the first time to clean Alice‟s house. Carol did not know that Alice operated a daycare center in her home. Carol noticed several packages of poison in the corners of the rooms, but cleaned around them.
Shortly before the children arrived on Monday morning, Alice removed as many of the packages of poison as she could find. Later that day, nine-month-old Victor, one of the children in Alice‟s daycare center, was crawling along the floor of the living room when he found a package that Alice had missed. It had already been gnawed into by a mouse, and Victor reached in and ate some of the pellets. He became seriously ill. Medical tests determined that Victor‟s illness was caused by his ingestion of the mouse poison.
Under what theory or theories might Victor‟s parents bring an action for damages against Alice, Bob and Carol? Discuss.
What defenses, if any, might Alice, Bob and Carol assert, and what is the likely result? Discuss.
October 2008 Question 3 [Criminal Law]
Deanna, a single mother of ten-year old Vickie, worked as a cashier at the local grocery store. Deanna had recently broken off her relationship with Randy, a drug addict who had been violent toward her on several occasions. One morning Randy was in the parking lot outside the grocery store and telephoned Deanna at work. Randy told Deanna that a friend of his was outside Vickie‟s school. Randy said that if Deanna did not immediately bring $1,000 to Randy in the parking lot, he would call and direct his friend to harm Vickie.
Over the next several minutes, Deanna put in her pants pocket $400 from her cash register at the grocery store. She then went to the manager‟s office, where she had heard there was a safe containing a large amount of cash. No one else was in the manager‟s office.
Alma, an assistant manager who works at the cash register next to Deanna‟s, saw how upset Deanna was after the phone call. Alma followed Deanna to the manager‟s office, where she found Deanna looking through desk drawers. Deanna told Alma that she was looking for the keys to the safe because she “needed some papers” from it. Alma smiled, told Deanna where the keys were, and then said, “You don‟t have to lie to me, Deanna. I‟ll be outside keeping watch for you.” Deanna replied, “Thank you so much, Alma, I am in a desperate situation right now and will return the money to the safe as soon as I can.”
As Alma stood in the hallway outside the manager‟s office, Deanna opened the safe, removed $600, relocked the safe, and returned the key to its location. Deanna then brought $1,000 to Randy in the grocery store parking lot.
What crimes, if any, can Deanna and Alma reasonably be charged with, and what defenses might each assert? Discuss.
October 2008 Question 4 [Contracts]
Selma owned two adjoining parcels of land. She entered into negotiations to sell her west lot to Barnaby, who was looking for a good location for his new carpet store. On Selma‟s adjoining east lot were a large billboard that would obscure the view of Barnaby‟s carpet store, a partially-collapsed, abandoned greenhouse, and several abandoned cars and old tires.
After Selma and Barnaby agreed on a price for the west lot, they signed a valid standard real estate sales contract. In a blank space at the end of the contract under the caption, “Other Terms,” were the handwritten words, “Selma to clear debris from adjoining east lot.” The standard contract also contained a clause, “This contract represents the entire agreement of the parties. There are no additional representations, promises or conditions precedent to the effectiveness of this agreement.” According to Barnaby, Selma had promised during their negotiations that she would remove the billboard, the greenhouse, the cars and the tires from the adjoining east lot if Barnaby agreed to purchase the west lot.
By the date for the closing of the sale, Selma had not yet done any work on the adjoining east lot, although she told Barnaby that she fully intended to do everything she had promised. The parties exchanged the purchase price and a deed to the west lot. The following week, Selma had the abandoned cars and old tires removed from the adjoining east lot. When Barnaby asked her about the removal of the billboard and the greenhouse, Selma denied having made any commitment to remove the billboard, which she said brings in substantial rental income from advertisers. She also denied promising to remove the greenhouse, which she indicated she hoped to repair and reopen some day.
Barnaby wants to keep the purchased lot and has already started construction of the carpet store. He would, however, like to obtain a court order directing Selma to remove the billboard and greenhouse and/or to collect monetary damages from her for breach of contract.
1. Is Barnaby likely to prevail in a breach of contract action against Selma? Discuss.
2. If Barnaby does prevail against Selma, is he entitled to specific performance and/or monetary damages? Discuss.