Reference no: EM133200904

Research Assignment

Three students were driving home from a party at 2 A.M. on the Garden State Parkway. The driver of the car was intoxicated, and he sideswiped a motorcyclist. The students stopped, got out of the car, observed the motionless motorcyclist, concluded he was dead, and left the scene of the accident. The motorcyclist, however, was alive when the students observed him, but was subsequently killed when another motorcyclist struck him.

The assignment is to read the case and answer the questions based on the civil lawsuit brought by the estate and heirs of the motorcyclist against the two Monmouth University students who were passengers in the car. The assignment does not involve any lawsuits against the driver. This is a New Jersey case decided on June 26, 2007, and the names in the case begin with a P and an M. You may research and discuss the case with others, but you must submit an individual answer in your own words. Please submit your answer in the drop box on ecampus before December 7th at 11pm.

Question 1: What is the title of the court that decided the case?

Question 2: How many judges were involved in the decision?

Question 3: Why did the motion judge in the lower court dismiss the plaintiff's complaint against Swanson and Newell?

Question 4: Fill in the blanks in the following quotation from the case: "The determination of the existence of a duty is ultimately a question of ____________ and ___________ ________, which in turn draws upon notions of __________, __________, and _____________."

Question 5: Based on the Court's statement in question 5, explain the important facts of the case that the Court relied on in six sentences or less.

Question 6: What is the consequence of the Court's decision to reverse and remand the case?