If you have been assigned as the judge and you are being asked to render a verdict in each case and give an explanation of the legal issue and more importantly, your decision and the reason for your decision.

1. Ms. Lopezwas employed as a clerk in defendant's donut shop in Woodridge, for approximately three years. The donut shop, through its agents and employees, Ralph Bell and James Cesario, accused her of selling donuts without registering sales and thereby pocketing defendant's monies. James Cesario telephoned plaintiff at her home at 4:30 p.m. and asked her to come down to the donut shop; he did not explain his reasons for wanting her to do so. As a result of this call, plaintiff walked to the store from her home, arriving 10 minutes later. Upon her arrival at the store, Cesario asked her to accompany him into the baking room, which was located at the rear of the store; Ralph Bell was also present in the room. Ms. Lopez statedthat she voluntarily accompanied an agent of the employer into a room where she was questioned, she stayed in the room in order to protect her reputation, and she was never threatened with the loss of her job and never put in fear of her safety;that there was never a point in the interrogation that she said, "I want to leave" and was prevented from doing so; and that she got up, left the room and went home when she first decided to do so.

• Ms. Lopez files an action for false imprisonment. As the judge in this case, what would your ruling be?

1. New York Times Co. v. Sullivanbegan as a lawsuit against the newspaper for mistakes in a full-page civil rights fundraising editorial advertisement in 1960 entitled "Heed Their Rising Voices." The advertisement, protesting the treatment of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. by Alabama law enforcement, carried the names of prominent civil rights activists, including actors, writers, ministers, and other prominent Americans. The lawsuit was filed by L. B. Sullivan, an elected city commissioner in Montgomery, Alabama, whose duties included supervision of the local police. Under Alabama law, Sullivan only needed to prove that there were mistakes and that they likely harmed his reputation. A jury awarded him $500,000 in damages, an enormous sum at the time. The Supreme Court reversed the decision and established a new standard in the areas of defamation.

• What is defamation and what are the various types of defamation? Identify and briefly explain, in your own word, the new standard.

1. On a dark wet evening in September 1958, Tinkers was driving intoxicated and collided with another vehicle. Tinkers fell out of his car rendering him unconscious and was noticed by an oncoming driver, Dr Evers, who stopped and sought to assist Tinkers. While attending to the unconscious Tinker another driver, Chance, unwittingly hit and killed Dr Evers.The executor of Dr. Evers' estate comes to you for legal advice.

• What would you recommend and why? Hint: keep in mind the issue of foreseeability.

1. Betty Boop inherited an old farmhouse in Nebraska, which she had left vacant for the last ten years prior to the incident. They had the house boarded up and placed "No Trespassing" signs around the property. The house was in poor condition and was subject to frequent burglaries and break-ins. To defend the house against intruders, Betty mounted a 20-gauge spring-loaded shotgun in the farmhouse and rigged it to fire when the north bedroom door was opened. The gun was aimed downward so as to shoot an intruder's legs, rather than cause a mortal injury. She also covered the bedroom window with steel. A month later, on July 16, 1967, Johnny Rose entered the farmhouse with the intent of stealing some old bottles and dated fruit jars that Rose considered antiques. He was aware of their presence because he and a friend had broken into the house two weeks earlier. When Rose entered the bedroom, he tripped the trigger mechanism and the shotgun fired into his groin atpoint blankrange. Thegunshot woundswere sufficiently severe to require hospitalization, and Rose sued Boop after his release from the hospital.

• Judge Judy was unavailable for this case, so it was assigned to you. How would you decide and why?