ABA Family Legal Guide

Personal Injury

Intentional Wrongs

My neighbor fired his shotgun to scare a solicitor whom he did not want coming to his door. One of the pellets grazed a passerby. Will my neighbor be liable?

Under a legal doctrine known as transferred intent, your neighbor could be liable for a battery to the passerby. This is true even though the passerby was an unexpected victim whom your neighbor did not intend to harm. The solicitor also is likely to win an assault case against your neighbor. The firing of the gun placed the solicitor in reasonable apprehension of a battery, which is the legal definition of an assault.