Talmage v. Smith (Mich. 1894)
Although this case took place quite a long time ago, it substantially explains the doctrine of transferred intent.
Smith owned property in Michigan. On his property were several sheds. The sheds were a temptation to the local children.
Fed up with noise coming from the kids playing on the shed roofs, Smith confronted several of them and asked that they leave his property. A few left, and a few others remained.
Not satisfied, Smith returned to the area of his property where the sheds stood. He picked up a large stick and threw it at one of the boys - the first boy he saw, to be exact. As the first boy ducked from the projectile, another boy, named Talmage, was struck in the eye. The blow blinded him permanently.
In this case, the court saw the act of throwing the stick as an act of battery. Mostly because of the force it carried. The court also looked at the two criteria. Let us review:
- Smith intended to hit one of the boys with the stick (battery)
- Smith's intention to commit battery affected a bystander (battery)
To say it a simpler way, Smith intended to commit a battery upon one of the boys occupying his roof. The force he used to throw the stick proved this. He missed his intended target, which was determined to be the first child he saw. He did, in fact, hit an unintended target, causing severe injury and blindness.
The court ruled in favor of Talmage. Smith was liable for the injuries the boy sustained.
Lesson Summary
To sum things up, transferred liability occurs when one of the five torts was committed against an intended party but actually occurs to another party, like throwing a rock at your victim but it actually hitting an innocent bystander.
When this occurs, the law looks at a couple of things:
- A tort would have been committed if contact with the original party occurred
- A tort was committed to an unintended party resulting in damages
If both statements can be proven true, liability can also be proven.
In our landmark case, Talmage v. Smith, the defendant was held liable for his actions, even though it was not his intention to injure a third party.
Learning Outcomes
After you've completed this lesson, you'll be able to:
- Define transferred liability and transferred intent
- List the factors that must be met in order to find liability using transferred intent
- Summarize the facts and ruling of the case Talmage v. Smith
