Baker v. Shymkiv

Homer and Mary Baker (plaintiffs) came home to find their neighbors, the Shymkivs (defendants), having secretly dug a drainage trench across the Bakers' driveway; an angry confrontation followed, during which Mary stepped between the two men, left briefly to call police, and returned to find Homer lying dead on the ground as the Shymkivs drove away. Mary, as administratrix of Homer's estate, sued for wrongful death based on the trespass, but the trial court instructed the jury that liability required the harm to have been foreseeable, and the jury found for the Shymkivs. The court of appeals reversed that instruction, and the Ohio Supreme Court took up the case.