Legal Writing Essay

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Intentional Torts 1. Art attended a backyard party at Barb’s house where friends from his class were celebrating their college graduation. While Barb was grilling steaks in the corner of her backyard, smoke from the grill drifted into the adjacent yard of her neighbor Carol, irritating Carol’s eyes and causing her to suffer a painful cough. Carol called over the fence to Barb, asking that Barb turn off the grill because the smoke was hurting Carol’s eyes and throat. Barb ignored Carol, who was forced to go back inside her house to avoid the smoke. Has Barb committed any intentional torts against Carol? Discuss. Leichtman case (Ohio '94), Smoke is "particulate matter" and does have the physical properties required for contact. Intentional blowing of smoke in the face of a nonconsenting person is a battery. However, courts are hesitant to establish precedent for the "smoker's battery," suggesting alternative dispute resolution. Leichtman contends that Furman's intentional act constituted a battery. The Restatement of the Law 2d, Torts (1965), states: "An actor is subject to liability to another for battery if "(a) he acts intending to cause a harmful or offensive contact with the person of the other and "(b) a harmful contact with the person of the other directly or indirectly results or an offensive contact with the person of the other directly or indirectly results." In determining if a person is liable for a battery, the Supreme Court has adopted the rule that contact which is offensive to a reasonable sense of personal dignity is offensive contact. " Love v. Port Clinton (1988), 37 Ohio St.3d 98, 99, 524 N.E.2d 166, 167. It has defined "offensive" to mean "disagreeable or nauseating or painful because of outrage to taste and sensibilities or affronting insultingness." State v. Phipps (1979). Furthermore, tobacco smoke, as
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