The Thirty-Fifth Annual Iowa Middle School Mock Trial Tournament 2018
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THE THIRTY-FIFTH ANNUAL IOWA MIDDLE SCHOOL MOCK TRIAL TOURNAMENT 2018 LARRY & RITA LUDGATE, as Parents and Next Friends of APRIL LUDGATE Vs. GRYZZL CORP d/b/a CAMP MORNING STAR A program of The Iowa State Bar Association Center for Law & Civic Education In cooperation with the Young Lawyer’s Division Of The Iowa State Bar Association With generous financial support from The Iowa State Bar Foundation IOWA MIDDLE SCHOOL MOCK TRIAL TOURNAMENT 2018 LARRY & RITA LUDGATE, as Parents and Next Friends of APRIL LUDGATE Vs. GRYZZL CORP. d/b/a CAMP MORNING STAR Original Case Materials Developed by The Iowa State Bar Association Center for Law & Civic Education 625 East Court Avenue Des Moines, Iowa 50309 ©2018 Iowa State Bar Association Many thanks to the Davis Brown Law Firm, Des Moines, Iowa for Research Assistance in preparation of these materials. STIPULATIONS 1. The jurisdiction and venue for this mock trial case have been previously established and are proper. 2. The applicable law is contained in the jury instructions that are set forth in this case file. 3. All exhibits included in the problem are authentic and accurate in all respects, and no objections to authenticity of the exhibits will be entertained. Unless stated otherwise, the admissibility of the exhibits on other grounds may be challenged. 4. All signatures on letters, witness statements and other documents are authentic. Those statements not including a signature are presumed to have been signed and authenticated. 5. The dates of witness statements are not relevant and therefore not included. No challenges based on the dates of the witness statements will be entertained. All statements were taken after the alleged incident but before trial. 6. This trial is bifurcated and the only issue to be determined is liability. The amount of damages to be awarded, if any, will not be at issue in this trial. 7. Whenever a rule of evidence requires that reasonable notice be given, it has been given. 8. All pretrial motions have been considered by the Court and do not affect the trial of this case. 9. At the time of her attendance at Camp Morning Star, April Ludgate was an average 14- year-old capable of self-care, including matters of hygiene. 10. In legal cases where comparative fault may be at issue, it is customary to provide jurors with a verdict form including a means of calculating percentage of fault attributable to each party. This form has been omitted in this case book. WITNESSES The following witnesses are available and must be called by the parties: For the Plaintiff - For the Defendant – Andy/i Dwyer Leslie Knopf Ron/da Swanson Bennie Wyatt Dr. Chris Traeger Avery Perkins, C.N.P. All witnesses may be female or male. The victim, April Ludgate, is female. This does not affect the gender of the witnesses involved nor does it have an impact on the relationships between the victim and the witnesses. NOTE: If space allows within individual mock trial courtrooms, the Plaintiff may designate an alternate member of the team to portray a parent of the victim and sit at counsel table. The participant portraying the parent will have no official role in the mock trial proceedings and will not be evaluated for scoring purposes. Under NO circumstance may a team designate a member to portray the victim, April Ludgate, in the Mock Trial Courtroom. EXHIBITS AVAILABLE TO BOTH PARTIES The parties have stipulated to the authenticity of the trial exhibits listed below. The court will, therefore, not entertain objections to the authenticity of these trial exhibits. The parties have reserved any objections to the admissibility of any of these exhibits until the trial of the above- captioned matter. The trial exhibits may be introduced by either the Plaintiff or the Defendant, subject to the Rules of Evidence and stipulations of the parties contained in the materials. The exhibits are pre-marked and are to be referred to by number, as follows: Exhibit No. Exhibit Description 1 Map of Camp Morning Star 2 Excerpt from Parent Handbook 2017 3 Iowa Department of Public Health Pamphlet 4 Lyme Disease Fact Sheets 5 Camp Morning Star Daily Schedule 2017 6 Curriculum Vitae of Dr. Chris Traeger 7 Maps of Reported Cases of Lyme Disease 8 Camp Morning Star Nurse’s Log for April Ludgate 2017 9 Email Exchanges between Camp Morning Star and Ludgate Family 10. Information and Photos of Ticks 11. Examples of Tick-Borne Rashes 12. Tick Prevention Poster from Camp Morning Star Dining Hall Case Note: This problem is designed as a jury trial. However, your arguments will be presented to a panel of judges. You should evaluate and review all appropriate jury instructions provided in preparing your case. UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF IOWA ______________________________________________________________________________ LARRY & RITA LUDGATE ) As Parents and Next Friends of ) APRIL LUDGATE ) CIVIL ACTION NO. ) Plaintiffs, ) 20180828 ) v. ) ) GRYZZL CORP. ) d/b/a CAMP MORNING STAR ) ) Defendant. ) ______________________________________________________________________________ COMPLAINT INTRODUCTION Plaintiffs Larry and Rita Ludgate bring this action on behalf of their minor daughter, April Ludgate, to recover for the catastrophic personal injuries she sustained as a result of the negligence of the Defendant, GRYZZL Corporation, while April attended Camp Morning Star, a camp run and owned by GRYZZL Corporation, during the summer of 2017. Plaintiffs seek to recover for their daughter’s injuries and for the substantial damages that she has sustained, and will continue to sustain, as a result of her injuries. JURISDICTION 1. Plaintiff April Ludgate is a citizen of Nebraska. 2. Defendant GRYZZL Corp. is a domestic, regular, non-stock corporation incorporated in the State of Iowa and with a principal place of business in the State of Iowa. 3. This Court has jurisdiction because the parties are citizens of different states and the amount in controversy exceeds $75,000. 5 4. Venue is proper in this District in that a substantial part of the events or omissions giving rise to the Plaintiff’s claims occurred in the District; the injury at issue was inflicted in the District; and the Defendant is incorporated in, and has its principal place of business in, this District. FIRST CLAIM FOR RELIEF: NEGLIGENCE 5. From June 18 to July 29, 2017, then 14-year-old April Ludgate attended Camp Morning Star in Jones County, Iowa, a camp owned and run by the Defendant GRYZZL Corporation. 6. While April attended the camp, she was in the sole care and custody of the Defendant and the Defendant’s employees, agents, servants and representatives. 7. While April attended the camp, the Defendant stood in loco parentis to April. 8. While April attended the camp, the Defendant had the duty and responsibility to do everything in its power to keep her safe and protected from disease. 9. Among other materials prepared by the Defendant and given by the Defendant to April and her parents prior to April’s attendance at the camp was a Parent Information Handbook which acknowledged “the probability of a tick attaching itself to a camper and possibly causing Lyme’s disease or other tick-borne illnesses,” and promised a “multi-step protocol” of precautions to protect campers against that risk. 10. The “multi-step protocol” included the following: (a) “daily, each camper is observed in a state of undress (as discreetly as possible) by her/his cabin counselor for the purposes of noticing any rashes, infected bug bites, sores or other unusual skin conditions”; and (b) “campers involved in activities outside of the core and mowed areas of the Camp… are informed at the meal preceding that activity to wear appropriate clothing (long pants and 6 sneakers) and apply bug lotion to exposed skin just prior to participation. The activity instructor reinforces this procedure at the time of the activity.” 11. The Defendant failed to comply with its own Tick-Borne Disease precautions contained in the Parent Information Handbook. 12. The Defendant’s cabin counselors failed to observe, or failed to carefully and adequately observe, April for purposes of noticing any rashes, infected bug bites, sores or unusual skin conditions. 13. The Defendant’s cabin counselors failed to notice any unusual skin conditions on April, despite the presence of one or more such conditions. 14. During the period prior to, on, and possibly following July 5, an engorged tick nymph (a vector for Lyme disease and other tick-borne diseases) was attached to April’s lower left leg, in plain sight to any cabin counselor, nurse, or other camp staff member observing April for the purpose of noticing the presence of a tick or other unusual skin condition. 15. During the period of June 18 to July 29, 2017, one or more other ticks infected with Lyme disease or other tick-borne diseases were attached to April’s body and infected her with such disease. 16. The Defendant failed to inform April, prior to activities outside of the core and mowed areas of camp, to wear appropriate tick-bite protective clothing. 17. Appropriate tick bite protective clothing includes: light-colored long pants, light colored socks, light colored long-sleeved shirt, closed toed shoes, and tucking pants into socks. 18. The Defendant failed to consistently inform April, prior to activities outside of the core and mowed areas of the camp, to apply bug lotion to exposed skin prior to or during participation. 7 19. The Defendant failed to inform April or her parents, prior to or during the camp session, that, to protect against ticks infested with Lyme and other tick-borne diseases, the camper must use insect repellant containing DEET. 20. The Defendant also failed to warn or educate April about the risk of contracting a tick borne disease while at camp and about the precautions necessary to prevent infection.