Tort Law Case Questions for Barney Barney,

Tort Law Case

Questions for Barney

Barney, how long have you known the plaintiff? Have you lived next door to each other the entire time you have known one another?

How would you describe your relationship with the plaintiff? Has it been consistently the same over the years, or has it changed? Would you characterize it as friendly, perhaps even as a friendship or a close friendship?

Have you and the plaintiff every had any problems or disagreements in your relationship prior to the incident for which we are here in court?

Do you socialize with the plaintiff? How often do you socialize with the plaintiff and what kinds of things do you do when you socialize together? Do your families accompany you when you socialize, is it just the two of you together, or does it vary?

How often has the plaintiff borrowed your riding lawn mower since you have known one another? Does the plaintiff ask your permission before borrowing the lawn mower each time he borrows it, or does he just take it? Does he ever or has he ever paid for the gasoline to run the riding lawn mower? Has he ever offered to pay for the gasoline (whether or not you accepted the offer)? Does it bother you that he borrows your riding lawn mower and does not pay for the gasoline to run it?

Questions for Fred

1. How long have you known the defendant? How would you characterize your relationship with the defendant during the time you have known him? Has it always been a good relationship, or have their been times of discord between you in the past?

2. During the time that you have known the defendant, how many times has the defendant asked to borrow something from you or asked you for a favor of any kind? How many times have you asked to borrow something from the defendant or asked a favor of him? Have you established a pattern of borrowing things from each other without asking during the time you have been neighbors, or do you both always ask before borrowing something from each other?

3. How would you characterize the defendant as a person? What type of person is he? Is he someone you can trust, someone you can rely on, someone who is honest? Does he go out of his way to help others? Is he a good person, in your opinion?

4. Have you ever paid for or offered to pay for gasoline for the defendant's riding lawn mower on any occasion on which you have borrowed it? If you have offered to pay for gasoline, has the defendant accepted or turned you down? Has the defendant ever asked you for money for gasoline for his riding lawn mower based on your borrowing it?

5. In your estimation, what is the monetary value of the gasoline that was used during each time you borrowed the defendant's lawn mower and did not pay for gas? What was the monetary value of the paint the defendant used that was yours? Are the amounts equal? Which is more?

Closing Statement

Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, as you can see, my client has a long, personal history with the plaintiff, and until recently, that history was a good one, both by my client's estimation and the plaintiff's. These two men have been close, personal friends for years and have established a comfortable pattern of borrowing things from each other over the years. With regard to items that are in their yards, they have never felt the need to ask permission first before borrowing, and this has never before been an issue between the two of them. It is an established pattern in their relationship that goes back years. The only difference in this case and in any of the other innumerable times these two men have freely entered each others' yards to borrow various pieces of equipment and other things is that this time, the plaintiff was not home at the time of the borrowing, whereas he had always been home before on the rare occasion the defendant needed to borrow something. As you can see from their statements, the plaintiff has done much more borrowing from the defendant over the years than the defendant has done from the plaintiff.