MBE Rules · Torts
Transferred intent
The rule
Intent transfers between (1) intended and unintended victims AND (2) the five intentional torts: battery, assault, false imprisonment, trespass to land, trespass to chattels. Does NOT apply to IIED or conversion.
In plain English
If you mean to harm one person but accidentally harm someone else, or commit a different intentional tort, you're still responsible.
Worked example
The defendant throws a rock intending to hit Person A but misses and hits Person B instead. The defendant is liable to Person B for battery.
Memory hook
Intent hops like a frog. Jump from victim to victim or tort to tort, but not to IIED or conversion.
The trap
Students think: Intent only transfers between people. Wrong, because it also transfers between torts. The actual test is both victim and tort transferability.
How examiners test it
The MBE loves: defendant aims to hit A, misses and hits B. Trap: students assume intent doesn't transfer to different tort; remember, it does for the five intentional torts.
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