Hypothetical #7-City Park Candy Sale Located in the heart of downtown City, Louisiana, (City) is City-owned Central
Question:
Hypothetical #7-City Park Candy Sale
Located in the heart of downtown City, Louisiana, (City) is City-owned Central Park (Park). The Park is full of beautiful oak and pine trees. Over the years, vines had begun to overtake a stand of pines, creating an area obscured from view that had been the scene of several instances of criminal activity, particularly drug crimes targeting children.
The City received numerous complaints from the public that the overgrowth was enabling criminals to victimize children, but nothing was ever done, so it became common practice for families with young children to simply avoid the Park after dark.
One day, 10-year old Timmy and his family were enjoying an early-evening cookout at the Park when Timmy decided to explore the thick overgrowth of vines. As soon as Timmy was out of sight of his parents, a stranger offered him a bag of "candy." Timmy took the bag because the substanceinside smelled so good and ingested what he thought to be strawberry flavored candy.
The substance was actually a sweet-tasting illicit drug often used by drug dealers to trick children into trying highly addictive methamphetamine. The stranger was actually Dealer Dan (Dan), a drug dealer looking to create another customer. Timmy ingested all of the sweet-tasting substance. After he returned to his family, he began to get sick and to vomit violently. He became extremely disoriented and lost consciousness.
Timmy's parents rushed him to Parish Hospital, a qualified healthcare provider, where he wasimmediately admitted to the emergency room (ER). The ER staff worked quickly to assessTimmy's condition, but failed to properly restrain him on the gurney. Timmy began to violentlyconvulse and fell off the gurney, causing traumatic injuries that would require numerous future medical interventions. The ER staff was able to determine that he had overdosed on the highly addictive methamphetamine.
After Timmy's condition was somewhat improved, he told his parents that he had eaten "candy" given to him by Dan in the Park. Eventually, Timmy's parents learned of the Park's reputation as being unsafe, complaints by others regarding the overgrown vegetation and drug crimes, and theCity's failure to take action to address safety concerns.
A subsequent police investigation into the matter resulted in an arrest of an individual that Timmywas able to identify as Dan, the stranger that gave him the illicit drug. Timmy's parents determinedthat Dan had access to a sizeable estate and want to file suit against Dan, on behalf of Timmy, seeking punitive damages to punish Dan and to deter others from engaging in the same conduct.
What cause of action can Timmy's parents, on behalf of Timmy, reasonably bringagainst City for damages caused by this incident? Discuss. (10 points)
What reasonable defense(s) might City raise, if any, and is it likely to succeed? Discuss. (5 points)
Timmy's parents, on behalf of Timmy, want to bring an action against ParishHospital for medical malpractice for failure to properly restrain Timmy on the gurney. What process must they first complete before suing; what is their burden of proof if they file suit; and what is the maximum amount, exclusive of future medicalcare costs, that can be recovered for Timmy's injuries?