Plaintiff vs. Defendant

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Plaintiff vs. Defendant

by XLogic » Thu Aug 04, 2011 3:11 pm
Female Plaintiff: At 10 pm, I parked my car in bar-X's open parking lot and went into bar-X to meet with friends for drinks. Three hours later I came out to find my passenger side door and window damaged. Two witnesses say, at 12:30 am, the defendant's car collided with my car which caused the damages to my car; Both witnesses statements are included in the police report I have presented to the court. therefore, the defendant owes me $5000 in damages to fix my car.

Female Defendant: I agree I was at the bar, at 10 pm, on the day in question. But I left my car at the bar because I was drunk, so my friend drop me off at home, at midnight. I talked to my neighbor at 12:30 AM before going to bed. When I returned to the bar the next day I discovered that my car had been stolen. The report I filed with the police has been presented to the court. My car was stolen at the time of the incident so I was not driving my car when it hit the plaintiff's car; therefore, I am not responsible for any damages to the plaintiff's car.

The Law: If Defendant was behind the wheel when collision occurred, then Defendant is liable for damages to Plaintiff.
Burden of proof: Plaintiff to prove by a preponderance of the evidence (more likely than not) that the defendant is guilty

Which one of the following most helps the Plaintiff's argument ?

(A) Plaintiff presented a police report (to the Judge) that clearly stated (beyond any reasonable doubt) that the defendant's car was involved in the collision
(B) The Plaintiff claimed she talked to two more witnesses that saw the defendant leave Bar-X alone at 12:00 am (on day of incident)
(C) Defendant claimed that after talking with some lawyers, she did not deem it necessary to provide any witnesses to corroborate her story
(D) The Defendant was involved in a hit and run incident a month prior to this incident
(E) A call was made to the police at 12:20 AM, from BarX's parking lot, about a suspicious man attempting to break into the defendant's car


(Note: This is not necessarily a CR formatted question)
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by coderversion1 » Thu Aug 04, 2011 3:53 pm
Different question but seems pretty simple to me.

Plaintiff argues that 'defendant owes $5000 to fix her car', Law says that 'If defendant is behind the wheel only then she's liable to pay'. Correct answer should support the fact that defendant was behind the wheel.

A. This has already been proved by witnesses. Hence it's of less help to Plaintiff's claim.
B. This fact already present in defendants claim. The fact that she was home by 12:30 means she must have left early. Also, collision occurred at 12:30 (according to witnesses) so if she left at 12:00 according to this answer choice, it would not help Plaintiff.
C. If defendant does not bring any witness and relies on her story alone, it has low credibility and hence can be assumed to be untrue. We can keep this option as a contender, and look for better options.
Also mentioning '..after talking to lawyers ..' seems to play with common thinking that if lawyers approved it, it must be right and hence MAY BE an effort is made(by framers of question) to hide the answer.
D. This one incident may not be sufficient to prove the defendant is careless and bad driver, but still may be a contender. Let's keep this option aside too for analysis later.
E. This strengthens defendants argument, not plaintiff's.

Between C and D. C appears to be a better choice. IMO answer is C.

OA please. Expert's explanations too.

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by XLogic » Thu Aug 04, 2011 4:08 pm
coderversion1 wrote: Plaintiff argues that 'defendant owes $5000 to fix her car', Law says that 'If defendant is behind the wheel only then she's liable to pay'. Correct answer should support the fact that defendant was behind the wheel.
This is exactly the issue at hand.
coderversion1 wrote:
A. This has already been proved by witnesses. Hence it's of less help to Plaintiff's claim.
B. This fact already present in defendants claim. The fact that she was home by 12:30 means she must have left early. Also, collision occurred at 12:30 (according to witnesses) so if she left at 12:00 according to this answer choice, it would not help Plaintiff.
C. If defendant does not bring any witness and relies on her story alone, it has low credibility and hence can be assumed to be untrue. We can keep this option as a contender, and look for better options.
Also mentioning '..after talking to lawyers ..' seems to play with common thinking that if lawyers approved it, it must be right and hence MAY BE an effort is made(by framers of question) to hide the answer.
Nicely done here. 2 crucial claims to support her case, yet she offers no witnesses.
coderversion1 wrote: D. This one incident may not be sufficient to prove the defendant is careless and bad driver, but still may be a contender. Let's keep this option aside too for analysis later.
E. This strengthens defendants argument, not plaintiff's.
Agree with D and E. Though, I also thought D was irrelevant to the current case.

More Thoughts??
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