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PaperclipPerfector  1yr ago (text post)   29948 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of August 7, 2023

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And I'm not sure Ngo should have even had to prove directly bloody hands, especially in a civil trial; the various tests in the context of mob violence are a mess, but I'm pretty sure they're wider than but-for.

Apparently, there are two standard jury instructions re causation in civil cases in Oregon: Oregon Uniform Civil Jury Instructions (UCJI) UCJI 23.01 (but-for causation) and UCJI 23.02 (substantial factor causation). "[T]he uniform substantial-factor instruction applies only when there are multiple causes of a plaintiff's injury that act together or independently to cause an injury. In other negligence cases—the majority of cases, according to Joshi—the but-for instruction is appropriate. 342 Or. at 162, 149 P.3d 1164." Haas v. Est. of Carter, 316 Or App 75, 87–88, 502 P3d 1144, 1151 (2021).

This case would seem to be one of multiple causation, so the substantial factor instruction should have been given. I don’t know if it was.

Yeah, unfortunately the trial records (and maybe the full text of the current Oregon UCJI?) are pretty heavily paywalled. It's not a negligence case, and very nearly the prototype for a situation where substantial-factor would normally be considered appropriate, but it's hard to find more specific data.

Oh, if he did not include a negligence cause of action, then the causation question probably was not at issue in the first place. If it was just a cause of action for battery, then the operative law seems to be:

For a person to be liable for the intentional tort of another, two legal requirements must be satisfied. First, the defendant must have participated in or aided and assisted in the assault in some way. Paur v. Rose City Dodge, 249 Or. 385, 389, 438 P.2d 994 (1968). Second, the defendant's participation in the assault must have been with the requisite mental state, i.e., defendant must have intended the harmful or offensive contact or least understood that the assault was going to be committed against Olsen at the time defendant aided G.

Olsen v. Deschutes County, 127 P. 3d 655 (OR: Court of Appeals 2006).

Again, I have no idea what evidence was presented to the jury on this.

At least by the web record search, the specific torts were "Assault, Battery, Emotional Distress", and as far as I can find allegations that they were directly involved in the attack, but there's not much more (freely accessible) information available.

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