Types of Intent

In torts or personal injury or civil litigation, someone alleging that they were injured by an intentional tort, like assault or battery, must be able to prove that the person that caused the injury did so intentionally or with the intent to cause the harm that ensued. When alleging this, the person that was injured has three types of intent that can be used to describe his or her assailant’s actions.

The first type of intent a plaintiff can choose to allege is purposeful intent. This is the most basic type of intent. It says that the defendant or person A purposely or intentionally did X and caused the plaintiff’s injuries. It is easy to allege this type of intent when a person says “I am going to hit you” and then follows through on his or her assertion.

The second type of intent is “knowingly.” When alleging that a person knowingly intended to do something, it must be shown that by performing a certain action, the person recognized that the consequence that did occur was rather likely to occur. So, for example, if a person throws a golf ball into a crowd, he or she can be fairly certain that the golf ball will make contact with someone or something.

The third type of intent is transferred. In this type, the intent shown towards person A can be transferred to person B if person B is either affected by the action or in a position that a threat made concerns person B as well. So if the defendant intended to hit John Doe but actually hit Susie Q, the intent to hit John Doe can be transferred to Susie.

Contact a Harrisburg Personal Injury Lawyer

If you have been injured by someone’s intentional actions, contact the Harrisburg personal injury lawyers of Lowenthal & Abrams, P.C. today at 610-667-7511.