Procedural history
Procedural History:
This is an appeal from a case in which a five-year-old boy was found not liable of
yanking a chair out from under the plaintiff, breaking her hip and inflicting other serious
injuries. An appeal has been filed by the plaintiff..
Facts:
The question is whether a 5-year-old kid understood he was harming the mother when he
yanked a chair out from beneath her. When the child moved the chair out from under
her, the plaintiff, a lady, believes he was aware that she was about to sit on it. The
defendant, or boy, has stated that he shifted the chair to sit down himself, and when he
realized the claimant was about to take a seat, he tried to move the chair back to its
initial form under her, but he did not do so in time, and the plaintiff fell, having broken
her hip and suffering other serious injuries, resulting in $11,010 in damages. The case
has been referred to the Supreme Court to determine if the defendant meant to pull the
chair out from under the plaintiff on purpose or whether it was just an accident, as the
defendant says..
Issues:
The issue at hand is whether the defendant had knowledge of the plaintiff trying to sit
down the moment he took the chair away. If he did have such knowledge, then the action
would be battery, causing intentional damage or bodily harm to someone, and even
though the defendant is only five, he will have consequences just as any other human
being would.
Answers or Holding:
The court decided that there needed to be clarification on whether or not the defendant
knew that harm would come to the plaintiff. Intention of the defendant is critical in this
matter, since battery is only when the tort was committed intentionally. The age of the
defendant is a factor in this decision, though not an independent deciding factor.
Reasoning:
There are no prior cases that this case was based on, though this case has become the
foundation for other future cases. Just basing this on societal norms, the defendant will
be held responsible based on his intentions in the moment of the monet of when the
plaintiff received damages from the defendant’s actions.
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