Nelson v. Carroll
Maryland Court of Appeals
735 A.2d 1096 (1999)
During a nightclub dispute over a $3,800 debt, Carroll (defendant) allegedly struck Nelson (plaintiff) on the head with a handgun when Nelson didn't pay, and the gun discharged, wounding Nelson in the stomach, as Carroll went to strike him again. The trial court ruled for Carroll, and Nelson's motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict was denied on the ground he had not stated it with the required particularity; the Maryland Court of Special Appeals agreed, and the Maryland Court of Appeals granted certiorari.
Whether a claim for battery can be sustained where there is evidence the defendant engaged in voluntary conduct intending to cause a harmful or offensive contact with the plaintiff, or to place the plaintiff in imminent apprehension of such contact.