May Court Instruct Jurors on ‘Res Ipsa Loquitor’ Inference When Defendant Suggests a Non-Negligent Cause of Injury?
Estate of Lurene N. Hall by April E. Couch, ADMRX., et al. v. Akron General Medical Center, Case no. 2008-1980 Summit County ISSUE: In a malpractice case involving fatal injury during a routine medical procedure, when conflicting expert testimony has suggested both a specific theory of negligence by the defendant and a possible non-negligent explanation for the plaintiff’s injuries, may the judge instruct jurors that they are permitted to infer that the defendant acted negligently on the basis that the plaintiff’s injury “speaks for itself”? BACKGROUND: When an injury occurs under circumstances in which no injury should occur in the normal course of events if ordinary care is observed, and there is no third-party eyewitness testimony or other hard evidence to establish whether or not the defendant acted negligently, a rule of evidence called res ipse loquitor (the thing speaks for itself) allows a court to instruct jurors that they may infer from the circumstances and nature of the inj
