- Part A. The general rule is that a landowner can be held liable to a trespasser only for intentional torts or for reckless or wanton conduct. No landowner will be liable to a trespasser for mere negligence, which is a failure to use reasonable care.
State whether or not you agree with the fact that many states require a landowner to use reasonable care in order to protect discovered trespassers, frequent trespassers, or tolerated trespassers from injuries caused by either the landowners' activities or by artificial conditions on the land. Support your response.
- Part B. In Knorpp vs. Hale, at 981 S.W.2d 469 (Tex. App. 1998) and at p. 480 in textbook, the court lays out the duties to both a licensee and an invitee. Use this analysis to determine whether or not a church member who slipped and fell in the church basement fellowship hall and injured herself would be considered a licensee or an invitee.
What duty of care would she be owed? Would your conclusion change if the member had sung in the church choir that morning, before she fell?