Torts notes

Reading comprehension

Where is the culvert that may have contributed to flooding in this area?

1 Where is the culvert that may have contributed to flooding in this area?

	A
	B
	C
	D
	E
	F
	G
	H

2 In the syllabus, I invite you to call me:

	Hey
	Professor Walker Smith
	Professor Smith
	Bryant

3 Based on what you know from the reading, which school has more financial resources than Jackson Central?

	Old Chappely
	Havirdale
	Jackson Tech
	None of the other answers

4

You are for your own .

5 What is the name of the made-up flood victim?

6 How should you contact me if you will be absent from class?

	@bwalkersmith #absent
	Laws529.03+absent@gmail.com
	bryantws@newlypossible.org (subject: absent)
	I do not need to contact you

7 Is the rule from Rylands v. Fletcher part of South Carolina common law?

	Yes
	No

8 Which of these are examples of cheating in this course?

	Using unauthorized materials in the exam
	Disregarding the professor's rule of anonymity
	Giving or receiving unauthorized assistance in the completion of an assignment
	Stopping the exam during an emergency
	None of the other answers

9

You are for your own .

10

You are for your own .

Reading and math skills

1 Which is (likely) the more serious physical injury?

	MAIS 1
	MAIS 3

2 When the four listed methods of suicide are considered together, what were the top five leading causes of injury deaths in Americans aged 15-24 in 2018 (from highest to lowest)?

Unintentional drowning

Motor vehicle crashes

Suicide

Unintentional poisoning

Homicide by firearm

(As an aside: What might explain the high number of "unintentional poisoning"?)

3 According to NHTSA, what was the total economic and societal costs of motor vehicle crashes in 2010 (expressed in billions of 2010 dollars)?

4 What is this same value expressed in billions of of 2019 dollars?

5 Assuming that statistics for deaths from causes other than COVID-19 have not changed significantly since 2018, was COVID-19 one of the 10 leading causes of death among people 25-34 in 2020?

	Yes
	No

6 Assuming that statistics for deaths from causes other than COVID-19 have not changed significantly since 2018, was COVID-19 one of the 10 leading causes of death among people 15-24 in 2020?

	Yes
	No

Standards of proof

Black's Law Dictionary defines "standard of proof" as "[t]he degree or level of proof demanded in a specific case, such as 'beyond a reasonable doubt' or 'by a preponderance of the evidence'; a rule about the quality of the evidence that a party must bring forward to prevail." {Arrange these three common standards of proof from the least demanding to the most demanding.

Clear and convincing evidence

Beyond a reasonable doubt

Preponderance of the evidence (more likely than not)

Preponderance of the evidence

In most (but not all) contexts, the standard of proof in a tort action is "a preponderance of the evidence." In an 1895 case, the South Carolina Supreme Court approved of the following jury instructions given by the circuit court judge to the jury in a civil case:

I charge you that should you not be satisfied by the preponderance of the evidence that the defense of the defendant is sustained, then you will have to consider the case as made out by the plaintiff; and then upon him will fall the burden of proof to make out his case by the same standard, the preponderance of the evidence. By that is meant, Mr. Foreman and gentlemen, the greater weight of the testimony on the issues involved. No court can provide a jury with scales on which to weigh the evidence; but a jury of twelve intelligent men, who have a knowledge of human nature, and, from their observation of life, understand the rules of common sense, are in possession of the best scales on which to weigh evidence. When a jury comes to the conclusion that a defendant has brought forward evidence that satisfies them that, more likely than not, such and such was the case, then they may say he has established his defense by the preponderance of the evidence; or when the plaintiff satisfies the jury by competent evidence that it is more likely than not that such and such was the case, not absolutely proved, not absolutely true, because neither the plaintiff nor the defendant is called upon to establish his complaint or make out his defense beyond a reasonable doubt, but, by the preponderance of the evidence, that it is more likely than not that such and such was the case, then you may safely say that the defense has been made out by the preponderance of the evidence, or that the complaint has been established by the preponderance of the evidence.”

Groesbeck v. Marshall, 44 S.C. 538, 22 S.E. 743 (1895).

This remains an accurate statement of the law today, with one exception.