People v. (Huey) Newton- (California Court of Appeals, 1970)

Han Solo and Chewbacca were relaxing in Chalmun's Cantina on Tatooine, when Chewie stood up and left the table to grab another Algerine for him and Solo. The rodesian bounty hunter, Greedo, recognizing his chance, then sat down and confronted Solo regarding Jabba the Hutt's bounty on his head. In the middle of the conversation, Greedo felt threatened and attempted to pull a blaster on Solo, which lead to a physical struggle between the two. When Imperial Stormtroopers then rushed into the Cantina to break up the quarrel, Greedo managed to squeeze off a shot into Solo's abdomen. Solo then proceeded to draw his blaster and execute Greedo, and in a rampage of violence killed several other Stormtroopers and Cantina patrons, before running several miles and passing out in the street.

Waking up in a cell in the brig, Solo claimed that after Greedo shot him he could not remember anything that followed after. Expert testimony by a GH-7 medical droid suggested that indeed, after being shot Solo went into a state known as "Automatism"; under which, like a droid he had no conscious control over himself, merely recieving input and submitting output (in the form of repeated blaster fire). The medical droid suggested that such a state could be in this reflex shock condition for up to a half an hour.

This raised several issues for the Outer Rim Court on Tatooine, as one of the elements of being charged with a criminal act is the requirement of "mens rea", or the mental culpability (or intent to commit the act). If Solo was not actually conscious during this obscene flurry of violence, it would be philosophically repugnant to punish him for an act outside of his control. This concern was also to be balanced with the notion that Solo had (even in his "droid-like" state) managed to kill several innocent individuals. The case was eventually remanded by the court for a jury determination as to whether or not Solo's act was voluntary.

Hawkins v. McGee- (New Hampshire Supreme Court, 1929)

While coming in for several routine tune ups for his cybernetic prosthetic, Medical Droids 2-1B and FX-7 attempted to persuade Luke Skywalker that they could repair his hand and make it "as good as new", further promising him "one hundred percent good hand".

Despite their poor grammar, after several visits the Droids were successful and Luke agreed to undergo their procedure. The droids used an experimental form of "skin grafting" and removed skin from Luke's chest to use as the "new" tissue for the hand. Unfortunately, the tissue used for the graft continued to grow chest hair, and Luke's hand became increasingly hairy, leading to his need to wear a black glove over the hand at almost all times (see, Return of the Jedi).

Luke sued the droids for breach of contract, as well as pain and suffering. The court dismissed the claim for pain and suffering stating that these effects were inherently a part of the procedure that Luke agreed to; however, the court did hold that the Droids were liable to Luke for breach of contract, and that the damages the Droids owed to Luke should be equal to the difference to the hand he received (one that was disgusting and hairy) and the one he was promised (one that was "one hundred percent good hand"). This was based on the reasoning of "expectation interest" which aims to place Luke in the position he would have been, had the Droids not breached the contract.