1. Rylands v. Fletcher, 3 H & C 774, 159 Eng.Rep. 737, L.R. 1 Ex. 265 (1866). (Strict Liability)
Rylands v. Fletcher
House of Lords, UK (1868)
TOPIC: Strict Liability
CASE: Rylands v. Fletcher, 3 HL 330, (1868)
FACTS: Plaintiff Rylands was the occupier of a mine. Defendant Fletcher was an owner of an adjacent mill, and began building a reservoir to hold water for the mill. Under the area of the reservoir there were old and disused mine shafts. Several vertical shafts had been filled up with soil and debris; apparently no one was aware of the existence of the vertical shafts at the time.
The Defendants’ reservoir was constructed by an engineer and contractor. When the reservoir was constructed, and partly filled with water, the weight
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Tice, 33 Cal. 2d 80, 199 P.2d 1 (1948)
FACTS: Plaintiff Summers's action was against defendants Tice and Simonson for an injury to his eye and face as the result of being struck by shotgun discharge on November 20, 1945 while plaintiff and the two defendants were hunting quail.
At bench trial, the court found that as a direct result of the shooting by defendants, the shots struck plaintiff and that defendants were negligent. The plaintiff was not contributorily negligent.
The defendants argued that they were not joint tortfeasors, and thus not jointly and severally liable, as they were not acting in concert, and that there was not sufficient evidence indicating which defendant was responsible for the the injuries.
HISTORY: The trial court entered a judgment in plaintiff's favor. Defendants appealed.
ISSUE: Should the judgment against both defendants stand?
RULING: Yes. Trial court judgment was affirmed.
RATIONALE: It was previously held that where a group of persons are hunting, or otherwise using firearms, and two of them negligently fire in the direction of a third person who is injured as a result, both of those who fired are liable for the injury, even though the negligence of only one of them could have caused the injury [Oliver v.