Tort Law

Tort’s are a negligent or intentional civil wrong doing in which a victim receives a remedy in the form of damages. There are different types of torts which include assault, battery, false imprisonment, and infliction of mental distress. Each tort has elements that must be proven in order to be proven. In the scenario there are several of the above torts that could be used in a lawsuit.

Based on the facts from the scenario, the first intentional tort that may have occurred is that of assault. Assault is the intentional attempt or threat to inflict injury upon a person with the apparent and present ability to cause the harm. The elements that must be proven for assault are intent which is the deliberate interference with the personal right or liberty of a person in a way that causes harm along with reasonable apprehension of imminent injury or offensive contact. Mere words from an individual do not constitute assault. Therefore assault occurred against the father of the girlfriend when the son shouted that he would run over the father if he did not move out from in front of the vehicle, this was the element of intent. The apprehension of imminent danger occurred when the son started the engine and moved the vehicle causing the father to jump out of the way prior to injury occurring. The son also committed assault against the man whose land him and his girlfriend were on when he fired shots from the gun he “borrowed” from his father.

The second intentional tort that occurred was that of false imprisonment. False imprisonment is the unlawful restraint of an individual’s personal liberty or freedom of movement. The elements of false imprisonment are the detention or restraint against a person’s will and the unlawfulness of the detention or restraint. False imprisonment occurred when the brother of the girlfriend was held captive by the son in the vehicle being driven. It was against the brother’s will when the boy screamed to be released from the...