PART ONE – Case Scenarios – 6 points each 1. Harris wakes up in the middle of the night when he hears a noise downstairs. He grabs his handgun, goes downstairs, and sees two people in his living room. Without speaking, he begins firing and kills two teenagers. The teenagers, who were found to be unarmed, were apparently trying to steal a large screen television from Harris’ house. Argue for or against Harris’ self-defense claim at his trial for murder. 2. Anne is sitting on a bench in Farragut Square one spring day, drinking from a clearly marked bottle of Coca Cola. Some months later, Anne is surprised to see herself in a Super Bowl Coke commercial, depicting her sitting on the bench in the park. No one from Coca Cola had ever sought her permission, but Coke argues that it is permissible to take the picture of anyone in a public place. Does Anne have a valid intentional tort claim? Why or why not? 3. Valerie enters a Safeway store in Alexandria to shop. Fifteen minutes before she arrived, a store employee dropped a carton of eggs on the floor while stocking a shelf. The employee continued to stock the shelf, intending to mop up the broken eggs after he finished stocking. Valerie approaches the display where eggs are sold, and not seeing the broken eggs on the floor, slips and falls, and sustains a severe back injury. Analyze the chances of Valerie’s claim against Safeway using the process discussed in class and in your text. If she were to prevail, how would Valerie’s damages be calculated by the jury? 4. In a television interview, a politician calls a rival candidate a “loser”, a “slimy bribe taker”, and “an unqualified candidate because he was born in Canada”.  Suppose there is no proof that the candidate ever lost an election, ever took a bribe, and was born in Canada to an American citizen mother. Evaluate EACH statement by the politician as to whether the statement constitutes slander. Please use the proper method of evaluating each element of a defamation claim.  Part Two – Multiple Choice – 2.5 points each 1. The following is a term describing the wrongful state of mind needed for a criminal action? a. Actus reus.b.  stare decisis    c. carpe diem    d. mens rea. 2. The term _______ or “guilty act” is used to describe the wrongful behavior in a criminal action. a. mens rea  b. locos actus  c. actus reus  d. criminal actus 3. A crime can be a felony, misdemeanor, or petty offense. How is this determination usually made?            a.. The statute defining the crime usually establishes whether the judge or jury decides if the crime is a felony, misdemeanor, or petty offense.            b. The judge decides.            c. The prosecutor decides how the charges will read.            d. The jury decides. 4. Trevor goes door-to-door selling magazine subscriptions. Trevor knows, however, that he is simply taking money for subscriptions and has absolutely no intention of ever arranging for the provisi.

1. PART ONE – Case Scenarios – 6 points each
1. Harris wakes up in the middle of the night when he hears a
noise downstairs. He grabs his handgun, goes downstairs, and
sees two people in his living room. Without speaking, he begins
firing and kills two teenagers. The teenagers, who were found to
be unarmed, were apparently trying to steal a large screen
television from Harris’ house. Argue for or against Harris’ self-
defense claim at his trial for murder.
2. Anne is sitting on a bench in Farragut Square one spring day,
drinking from a clearly marked bottle of Coca Cola. Some
months later, Anne is surprised to see herself in a Super Bowl
Coke commercial, depicting her sitting on the bench in the park.
No one from Coca Cola had ever sought her permission, but
Coke argues that it is permissible to take the picture of anyone
in a public place. Does Anne have a valid intentional tort claim?
Why or why not?
3. Valerie enters a Safeway store in Alexandria to shop. Fifteen
minutes before she arrived, a store employee dropped a carton
of eggs on the floor while stocking a shelf. The employee
continued to stock the shelf, intending to mop up the broken
eggs after he finished stocking. Valerie approaches the display
where eggs are sold, and not seeing the broken eggs on the
floor, slips and falls, and sustains a severe back injury. Analyze
the chances of Valerie’s claim against Safeway using the
process discussed in class and in your text. If she were to
prevail, how would Valerie’s damages be calculated by the
jury?
4. In a television interview, a politician calls a rival candidate a
“loser”, a “slimy bribe taker”, and “an unqualified candidate
because he was born in Canada”. Suppose there is no proof that

2. the candidate ever lost an election, ever took a bribe, and was
born in Canada to an American citizen mother. Evaluate EACH
statement by the politician as to whether the statement
constitutes slander. Please use the proper method
of evaluating each
element of a defamation claim.
Part Two – Multiple Choice – 2.5 points each
1. The following is a term describing the wrongful state of mind
needed for a criminal action?
a. Actus reus.b. stare decisis c. carpe diem d. mens rea.
2. The term _______ or “guilty act” is used to describe the
wrongful behavior in a criminal action.
a. mens rea b. locos actus c. actus reus d. criminal actus
3. A crime can be a felony, misdemeanor, or petty offense. How
is this determination usually made?
a.. The statute defining the crime usually establishes
whether the judge or jury decides if the crime is a felony,
misdemeanor, or petty offense.
b. The judge decides.
c. The prosecutor decides how the charges will read.
d. The jury decides.
4. Trevor goes door-to-door selling magazine subscriptions.
Trevor knows, however, that he is simply taking money for
subscriptions and has absolutely no intention of ever arranging
for the provision of magazines. Which of the following
offenses, if any, has he committed? a. False token b. False
pretenses c. Ponzi scheme d. false entry
5. Dalynda threatens to tell Raul’s boss that he is gambling on
the company’s time if he does not pay her $5,000. This is

3. considered _______.
a. exploitation b. corrupt practice c. extortion d. bribery
e. intentional deceit
6. A person unlawfully enters a building with the intent to
commit a felony, this would be considered a(n) _______.
a. larceny b. burglary c. arson d. intentional crime e. robbery
7. Which of the following is the secretive and wrongful taking
and carrying away of the personal property of another with the
intent to permanently deprive the rightful owner of its use or
possession?
a. Robbery b. Criminal fraud c. White-collar burglary
d. Larceny e. Arson
8. In order for a person to use the insanity defense in a criminal
case, a person must prove that their mental state was so
impaired that they _______. a. a. are on a medication that
impairs their ability to understand their criminal actions
b. could not distinguish right from wrong only c. the insanity
defense is no longer allowed unless the crime is murder d.
could not understand the wrongful nature of the act only e.
could not understand the wrongful nature of the act AND could
not distinguish right from wrong
9. Of which of the following must a defendant be informed
before questioning?
a. That statements made to law enforcement before arraignment
may not be used against the defendant in court.
b. That the defendant has the right to consult an attorney before
speaking to the police.
c. That the right to an attorney does not begin until after the
defendant is arraigned.
d. That the defendant must answer questions, or there will be a
presumption of guilt at trial.
e. That unless the defendant can afford an attorney, the
defendant will not have an attorney.
10. In the U.S. system of torts, torts are commonly classified

4. as: a. Intentional, negligent, or strict liability.
b. Intentional, negligent, strict liability, or criminal. c.
Intentional, negligent, or criminal, not strict liability.
d. Intentional, criminal, or strict liability, not negligent.
11. You and your neighbor Hammy are arguing about trespass
to realty. Which of the following situations would NOT be the
tort of trespass to realty? a. When a
person intentionally enters the land of another without
permission.
b. When a
person intentionally causes an object to be placed on the land of
another without the landowner's permission.
c. When a person refuses
to remove something he placed on the property that the owner
asked him to remove.
d. When a person stays on the land of
another when the owner tells him to leave.
e. When a person accidentally places something
on the land of another.
12. Matt intends to throw a baseball at Jamal and hit Jamal in
the head with the ball because he missed an easy fly ball hit to
him in the field. Jamal is standing directly next to Sally in the
dugout. Matt throws the baseball but hits Sally in the head
instead of Jamal. What type of tort did Matt commit against
Sally? a. An accidental
tort because Matt struck Sally by mistake. b. The tort of
negligence because Matt only intended to harm Jamal.
c. No tort was committed,
Jamal was Matt’s target not Sally. d. An intentional tort
because even though Matt meant to hit Jamal, he still caused
harm by hitting Sally. e. A strict liability tort occurred
because throwing a baseball is inherently dangerous.

5. 13. A reporter receives information from several highly credible
sources that a famous actress is pregnant and that the father of
the baby is not her husband. The story is later proved untrue.
The actress sues for defamation. Is she likely to be successful?
a. Yes, automatically, because the printed story turned out to be
untrue. b. No, because the reporter did not act with actual
malice. c. Yes, because pregnancy is a private matter even
for public figures. d. No, because the allegations would be
unlikely to damage a person’s reputation. e. Yes, because the
printed story would be likely to damage the reputation of the
actress.
14. _________________damages are a small amount of money
given to recognize that a defendant did indeed commit a tort in
a case in which there were no compensable damages suffered by
the plaintiff. a. Nominal b. Compensatory c. Retaliatory
d. Revenge e. Punitive
15. __________damages are awarded to punish the defendant
and to deter others from similar conduct. a. Compensatory b.
Punitive c. Revenge d. Nominal e. Retaliatory
16. Which of the following is NOT a typical type of
compensatory damage awarded in an automobile negligence
case?
a. Damages to punish the defendant for wrongdoing.
b. Medical expenses. c. Pain and suffering. d. Cost to repair
damaged property. e. Lost wages.
17. George is riding his skateboard down the street while
listening to music with earbuds in. George does not see Martha,
a store owner, who is putting flowers out in front of her store.
He looks up just in time and swerves to miss Martha but knocks
her flower display down, shattering it to pieces. Is George

6. liable? a. No, Martha had a
duty not to be on the sidewalk. b. No, Martha was not
injured. c. No, because property is not a compensable loss.
d. Yes, because George had
the intention of being on the sidewalk which is always a breach
of his duty of care. e. Yes, Martha suffered a compensable
property loss.
18. A fan at a baseball stadium is hit by a baseball. Under what
circumstances could the owner of the stadium be held liable for
resulting injuries? a. If
the owner of the stadium was aware of a chance that a ball
would strike a patron and failed to cancel the game, despite the
risk. b. If the
baseball team was the home team and not the visiting team.
c. If the
stadium owner failed to fulfill its duty to provide reasonable
protection because there were no barriers or other measures
taken to protect game attendees from being struck by the ball.
d. In all circumstances where a
ball hits game attendees, regardless of any other factors.
e. If the stadium owner took all cost-
effective precautions but failed to take part in a multi-million
dollar research effort to construct a robot to intercept foul balls.
19. While out for a bike ride, Huifen sees a child, alone and
unsupervised, fall and injure himself. Which of the following is
true as a matter of law? a. She
has no duty to render assistance to the child. b. She must
render assistance to the child only if she can do so without peril
to herself. c. She must come to the

7. child's assistance because a child is involved. d. Because the
law holds that every U.S. citizen holds the duty to help a
stranger in peril, she must come to the child's assistance. e. She
must render assistance to the child only if she is acquainted
with the child's parents.
20. In the
Palsgraf v. Long Island Railroad Companycase in the
readings, the case is famous for _______.
a.
malpractice by a company to a customer. b. addressing
what a breach of duty is by a company for their customers.
c. issuing the
standards of care for companies to customers. d. assessing
damages in a negligence case for customers.
e. addressing the issue
of proximate cause in a negligence case.
21. The standard of care associated with the duty owed in a
negligence case is the _______ standard. a. actual harm
b. professional person c. causal harm
d. legal person e. reasonable person
22. Many states have statutes that allow bartenders and bar
owners to be held liable for injuries caused by individuals who
become intoxicated at the bar. These are known as a. voluntary
intoxicated persons statutes. b. bar owner liability statutes.
c. negligent bar owner acts. d. social host laws. e. dram shop
acts.
23. Which of the following is a doctrine available to defendants
whereby a defendant may avoid liability by establishing that the
plaintiff voluntarily and unreasonably encountered the risk of
the actual harm that the defendant caused? a. Negligence per
se. b. Assumption of the risk doctrine. c. Last-clear-chance

8. doctrine. d.
Res ipsa loquitur. e. Contributory negligence doctrine.
24. What was the result on appeal of the R. J. Reynolds Tobacco
case in the text in which the trial court awarded a smoker
$200,000 against R. J. Reynolds Tobacco? a. The
appellate court reversed the award, finding the company had no
duty to warn smokers of the harm associated with smoking
cigarettes. b. The appellate
court reversed the award because harm from smoking cigarettes
was unforeseeable.
c. The appellate court
affirmed the award against R. J. Reynolds Tobacco, which
before 1969 had negligently failed to warn smokers of the harm
associated with smoking cigarettes.
d. The appellate court reversed the award
because consumers were harmed only when they misused the
product.
e. The appellate court affirmed the award, even
though the product was misused.
25. As recognized by the court in
Sperry-New Holland v. John Paul Prestage and Pam
Prestage, which of the following is true regarding the consumer
expectations test for product defect? a. That a plaintiff may
only recover if the plaintiff reasonably expected the
manufacturer to have insurance, that the manufacturer did have
insurance of the type to cover the injury at issue, and that the
plaintiff had no part in causing the injury. b. That a plaintiff
may only recover if the plaintiff was the purchaser of the
product causing injury. c. That if the plaintiff, applying the
knowledge of an ordinary consumer, sees the danger and can
appreciate that danger, then he cannot recover for any injury

9. resulting from that appreciated danger. d. That a plaintiff cannot
recover if a reasonable person would conclude that the danger
in fact of the product, whether foreseeable or not, outweighs the
utility of the product. e. That a plaintiff may only recover if
consumer-oriented household goods are involved.
26. Who could be considered foreseeable plaintiffs in product
liability cases? a. Users and consumers only. b. Users,
consumers, and bystanders. c. Users
and bystanders only. d. Users only. e. The purchaser and any
family member only.
27. What was the result in the text’s case involving a plaintiff
who suffered permanent liver damage as a result of drinking a
glass of wine with a Tylenol capsule? a. For
plaintiff, because the degree of potential harm was substantial
and it would have been easy to place a warning on the product
label. b. For plaintiff,
because no comparative negligence was found.
c. For defendant,
because there was no proof of market share.
d. For defendant, because
it had no duty to warn.
e. For defendant, because the
plaintiff’s adverse reaction from the ingestion of only one
capsule was extremely rare.
28. What must a plaintiff show to establish a claim for breach of
express warranty? a. There was a breach of the

10. representation and the breach was the defendant’s fault. b. The
representation was the basis of the bargain and there was a
breach of the representation. c. The representation was the
basis of the bargain, there was a breach of the
representation, and the defendant’s negligence caused her
injury. d. The representation was the basis of the bargain
and the breach was the defendant’s fault. e. The representation
was the basis of the bargain, there was a breach of the
representation, and the breach was the defendant’s fault.
29. Which theory might allow a plaintiff to recover when a
plaintiff cannot trace an injury caused by a defective product to
any particular manufacturer? a. The reciprocal theory. b. The
unknown maker theory. c. The shared production theory. d. The
marginal theory. e. The market share theory.
30. Which of the following products would likely have the
lowest cost for product liability insurance? a. Child’s car seat
b. Toaster oven c. Cook top stove. d. Window blinds with cords
e. Decorative wall art.